Visa, Mastercard and Ant International join forces on trust framework for AI shopping agents

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Ant International, Mastercard and Visa have unveiled a joint initiative to build common standards for identifying and verifying AI agents that are able to carry out purchases for users.

Some details follow:

• The companies said on Thursday that they have started work together on a Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework. It would let card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms and online marketplaces recognise trusted AI agents across separate payment ecosystems, while each keeps its own approval and risk-management procedures.

• The move comes as the payments sector braces for growth in agentic global consumer commerce, a shift in which AI agents move beyond offering recommendations and begin completing transactions on users' behalf.

• The framework is founded on protocols the companies already operate, among them Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol.

• According to the companies, the initiative could lower integration costs and speed up the rollout of new agentic services by delivering stronger trust and risk visibility across the networks taking part.

• Ant International, Mastercard and Visa said their collaboration will run through BuildFin.ai, a platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore that gathers financial institutions, technology providers and researchers to build AI solutions for financial services.