Ant International joins Visa, Mastercard to build AI agent payment standards

Ant International has partnered with Visa and Mastercard to develop common standards for identifying and monitoring AI agents as autonomous software takes on a larger role in global payments. Summary Ant International, Visa and Mastercard will develop common standards for identifying, verifying and monitoring AI agents involved in payments. The Know Your Agent framework is designed so an agent registered with one participating payment provider would not need to repeat the process with another. McKinsey projects AI agents could handle $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global consumer commerce by 2030. Alipay has begun allowing users to schedule recurring Starbucks orders and ride hailing requests through its AI tools. Ant International said Thursday that the companies will work on an interoperable “Know Your Agent” framework designed to let merchants and payment providers verify which AI agents are behind transactions and whether they are authorized to act. The work comes as payment companies prepare for AI systems that can search for products, place orders and make payments for consumers and businesses. Ant cited McKinsey projections that AI agents could handle between $3 trillion and ...