Mastercard and PayPal are ushering in the era of agentic commerce, unveiling new technologies that enable AI agents to make purchases, manage logistics, and offer personalised payment experiences.
Mastercard introduced Agent Pay, its new payment framework designed specifically for AI-driven commerce. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, the platform integrates services like Azure OpenAI Service and Copilot Studio to build AI agents capable of managing transactions autonomously. These agents interact with consumers and businesses to deliver tailored commerce experiences—blending generative AI with seamless payments.
Imagine planning a birthday party with the help of an AI agent that suggests outfits based on your preferences, local store availability, and the weather. The agent then handles the purchase and chooses the most optimal payment method. Or consider a small business sourcing materials internationally: the AI agent can secure suppliers, manage payment terms, and use a Mastercard virtual card to finalise the transaction—all while ensuring cost-effective delivery.
To ensure security, AI agents must be registered and verified before initiating transactions. Mastercard is reinforcing this with enhanced tokenisation technology, especially for payments triggered by conversational interfaces. It’s also collaborating with IBM on B2B use cases and with Braintree and Checkout.com to extend tokenised payment solutions.
Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer at Mastercard, states: “The launch of Agent Pay marks our first steps toward redefining commerce in the AI era, where trusted agents play a key role in managing transactions securely and intuitively.”
Meanwhile, PayPal has unveiled its own tools to support agentic commerce. Developers can now build AI-powered experiences where users can pay, track shipments, manage invoices, and more—all directly within an AI agent, and all backed by PayPal’s infrastructure.
Alex Chriss, PayPal’s CEO, says: “We are building with velocity and partnering with the biggest players in AI to empower our customers to access new opportunities in the AI economy.”
Adding momentum to this trend, OpenAI has also started rolling out enhanced product discovery and shopping features within ChatGPT, creating a multi-platform shift toward AI-first commerce experiences.