Mastercard has launched Agent Pay, a new program designed to integrate payments into AI-driven commerce experiences.

The initiative aims to enable secure, seamless transactions through generative AI agents across consumer and business platforms.

The company said Agent Pay introduces “agentic tokens,” which expand on its existing tokenisation technology used in contactless payments, card-on-file solutions, and digital credentials like Mastercard Payment Passkeys.

These tokens are intended to help AI agents complete transactions securely on behalf of users while maintaining transparency and user control.

Mastercard will work with Microsoft to explore new use cases using Microsoft’s AI technologies, including Azure OpenAI Service and Copilot Studio.

It also plans to collaborate with other AI platforms and tech providers such as IBM, whose watsonx Orchestrate product will help support B2B applications.

To further scale the program, Mastercard is partnering with payment processors like Braintree and Checkout.com, allowing them to extend existing tokenisation features for safer AI-initiated payments.

Banks will also be able to integrate tokenised credentials into AI platforms, giving issuers continued visibility and control.

Through the program, Mastercard said consumers will be able to use AI agents to make purchases and receive personalised recommendations, while businesses can automate tasks like sourcing, payments, and logistics using virtual card tokens.

Retailers will be able to recognise agent-facilitated transactions and offer relevant promotions based on Mastercard’s authentication and tokenisation systems.

The program includes safeguards to register and verify trusted AI agents, ensure consumer authorisation, and resolve unfamiliar transactions.

Mastercard said these efforts are grounded in its commitment to responsible AI development.

“The launch of Mastercard Agent Pay marks our initial steps in redefining commerce in the AI era, including new merchant interfaces to distinguish trusted agents from bad actors using agentic technology.

Recognising the seismic implications of this evolution, we are keen to collaborate with industry players to advance the standards for agentic payments, such as applying the Model Context Protocol to Secure Remote Commerce. This lays the foundation for scale and builds trust in agentic commerce.”

said Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer at Mastercard.

Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik