Mastercard, Visa and Ant International want to make payments safer when AI agents shop for consumers.
The companies are exploring an interoperable Know-Your-Agent framework to help payment networks, digital wallets, agent platforms and marketplaces identify AI agents and who operates them.
Each network would retain its own verification and decision-making processes.
As AI agents move from recommending products to completing purchases, the framework would link each one to a validated operator, cardholder or organisation.
Shared checks across payment networks
The initiative builds on protocols already developed by the three companies, including Ant International’s Agentic Mobile Protocol.
Common trust signals could reduce duplicate identity checks and separate integrations across card and wallet networks.
Shared certification requirements would cover security and agent behaviour, while identity and transaction signals would support continuous monitoring.
The companies will work through BuildFin.ai, an industry platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
It brings together financial institutions, technology providers and researchers working on responsible AI in financial services.
Building on the Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime framework, the initiative will explore agent verification and risk management across Singapore’s payment ecosystem.
Building trust in agent-led payments
“Visa has played a leading role in creating the trust frameworks that make agentic commerce possible through the development of innovations such as Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol.
Collaborations like this can help create more consistency, better accountability, and greater confidence across the payments ecosystem as AI-driven transactions become more common.”
said Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, Visa.
“Interoperability across Know-Your-Agent frameworks is essential to making agentic commerce work at scale, giving merchants, platforms, wallets and issuers a consistent way to recognise trusted agents, verify that actions reflect the user’s intent, and preserve accountability across the transaction.
Mastercard Verifiable Intent was designed for this open ecosystem, helping ensure that as commerce becomes more autonomous, every interaction remains secure, transparent and grounded in consent.”
said Pablo Fourez, Chief Digital Officer at Mastercard.
Jiang-Ming Yang, Chief Innovation Officer at Ant International, added that agent capabilities, behaviour, execution performance and risk data could support stronger checks across card and wallet networks.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by DC Studio via Magnific
