Mastercard just made a move that will likely change the way we shop and pay forever (at least on their network).

The company announced Agent Pay, a new technology that lets trusted AI agents make secure payments on your behalf.

Imagine telling your digital assistant to buy your groceries, book your next vacation, or pay your bills—and it just gets done.

As artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of our daily lives, Mastercard is making sure these AI helpers can handle payments as smoothly as they handle everything else. Agent Pay is designed to work behind the scenes, making transactions faster, smarter, and more secure.

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What Is Agent Pay?

Agent Pay is Mastercard’s new technology that lets trusted AI agents make secure payments for you.

Think of it as giving your digital assistant the power to complete purchases, pay bills, or handle subscriptions without you having to lift a finger.

This is part of a bigger trend called “agentic commerce.”

In agentic commerce, AI doesn’t just help customers and businesses find what they need, it takes action. Instead of suggesting a product and waiting for customers to click “buy,” the AI agent can actually make the purchase, arrange delivery, and even handle returns if needed.

It’s a shift from AI working with you to AI working for you.

With Agent Pay, Mastercard is making sure these AI agents can handle payments safely and smoothly. You decide what the agent can do, and Mastercard’s technology keeps your information secure at every step.

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How Does Agent Pay Work?

Agent Pay empowers AI agents to handle the entire purchasing process for your business. From sourcing products and recommending suppliers to making secure payments-all based on your preferences and business rules.

These AI agents can operate across both consumer and B2B scenarios. They can help source materials, negotiate payment terms, manage logistics, and even execute cross-border transactions, all within a single conversational interface.

At the heart of Agent Pay is Mastercard’s Agentic Tokens, a next-generation extension of the company’s proven tokenization technology.

Tokenization replaces sensitive payment details with unique digital tokens, ensuring that every transaction initiated by an AI agent is both secure and transparent. This technology, already trusted in mobile and online payments, now protects agent-driven transactions. It gives businesses peace of mind when delegating payment authority to AI.

Agent Pay in Practice

Imagine you’re planning a company event. Your AI agent can chat with you to understand your needs, curate a list of recommended vendors, suggest the most cost-effective payment method, and finalize the purchase-all in one seamless conversation.

For a small textile enterprise, the agent could source materials from international suppliers, optimize payment terms, manage shipping logistics, and pay using a virtual corporate card token, without ever leaving the chat interface.

Every AI agent must be registered and verified before it can make payments, and each transaction is authenticated and tracked using Mastercard’s security tools. You set the permissions and controls, ensuring that the agent acts strictly within your business guidelines.

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Key Benefits for Everyone

Agent Pay brings a wave of advantages to the entire payments ecosystem, but merchants stand to gain the most from this innovative technology.

Here’s how Agent Pay delivers value across the board.

For Merchants

Faster, Frictionless Checkout:

Agent Pay enables AI agents to complete transactions instantly, reducing cart abandonment and speeding up the checkout process. Customers can go from discovery to purchase in a single conversation, making shopping smoother and increasing conversion rates.

Seamless Integration:

Mastercard designed Agent Pay to work with existing payment systems, so merchants can adopt this technology without major overhauls. Integration with major platforms means merchants can start accepting agent-initiated payments quickly and efficiently.

Enhanced Security:

Every transaction uses Mastercard’s Agentic Tokens, which replace sensitive payment data with secure digital tokens. This reduces the risk of data breaches and fraud, giving both merchants and their customers greater peace of mind.

Greater Transparency:

Merchants gain full visibility into agent-initiated transactions. This helps with order tracking, reconciliation, and dispute resolution, making financial operations more efficient and reliable.

Access to New Customer Segments:

As AI agents become more common, merchants can tap into a growing base of tech-savvy shoppers who prefer to let their digital assistants handle purchases. This opens the door to new sales opportunities and customer loyalty.

For Consumers

Personalized Shopping:

AI agents shop based on individual preferences, making recommendations and purchases that truly fit each customer’s needs.

Control and Security:

Consumers set the rules for what their AI agents can buy, and every transaction is protected by Mastercard’s security technology.

For Businesses

Streamlined Operations:

AI agents can manage sourcing, payment terms, and logistics, freeing up time and resources for business owners.

Improved Cash Flow:

Faster, automated payments mean businesses get paid sooner and can manage their finances more effectively.

Agent Pay is more than just a new way to pay. It’s a smarter, safer, and more efficient solution that empowers merchants to thrive in the age of AI-driven commerce.

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What Does This Mean for the Future?

As AI agents become smarter and more capable, they’ll handle more of the purchasing process, from discovery to delivery. This makes commerce faster, easier, and more personalized than ever before.

For merchants, this means the shopping journey will become increasingly seamless. Customers will expect to complete transactions in the same conversation where they discover products, ask questions, and receive recommendations.

Merchants who embrace agentic payments will be better positioned to capture these sales, reduce friction, and build loyalty with a new generation of AI-powered shoppers.

The technology also sets a new standard for security and transparency. With Agentic Tokens and robust authentication, merchants and customers can trust that every transaction is protected. This trust will be essential as more financial decisions are delegated to AI agents.

Looking ahead, Agent Pay could transform not just retail, but also B2B commerce, supply chain management, and even financial services. Businesses will be able to automate complex transactions, optimize cash flow, and focus on growth, while consumers enjoy unprecedented convenience and control.

Mastercard’s move is just the beginning. As more companies invest in agentic commerce, we can expect a wave of innovation that will reshape payments. The future is conversational, intelligent, and secure—and it’s arriving faster than you might think.

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