Mastercard Launches Agent Pay for Machines Protocol for AI-Driven Payments

Mastercard has launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new protocol enabling AI agents to autonomously transact with each other, supporting microtransactions and payments via cards, bank accounts, and stablecoins. The system uses public blockchains like Polygon, Solana, and Base to store permissions for verification. Over 30 partners, including Coinbase and Stripe, have joined, as Mastercard positions itself against competitors like Visa and Google in the nascent agentic commerce market.

Agent Pay protocol launch

• ▪AP4M supports automated transactions across cards, bank accounts, and stablecoins
• ▪The AP4M protocol is designed for AI agents to autonomously purchase services and settle payments with other agents at high speed
• ▪The system can handle high volumes of microtransactions, including payments costing less than a cent
• ▪On June 10, 2026, Mastercard launched a payment protocol called Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M) for AI agents

Blockchain infrastructure choice

• ▪Mastercard's protocol stores the permissions that humans grant to their AI agents on public blockchains
• ▪Using public blockchains allows multiple parties to verify an agent is operating within its set boundaries without relying on a central company's records
• ▪The initial blockchains selected to record agent permissions are Polygon, Solana, and Base

Industry partnerships

• ▪More than 30 companies have joined the AP4M initiative as early partners
• ▪Partners in the AP4M initiative include Stripe, Coinbase, Cloudflare, Polygon, OKX, RippleX, Adyen, and the Solana Foundation

Competitive AI payment landscape

• ▪Coinbase launched the x402 protocol, and Stripe worked with Tempo to develop the Machine Payments Protocol
• ▪Competitors like Visa, Stripe, and Google have also released their own agent payment tools or standards over the past year

Commercial outlook

• ▪Mastercard is seeing early demand indicators, such as failed automated transactions on the emerging HTTP 402 internet payment standard due to a lack of payment options
• ▪Agentic payment volumes currently remain a small fraction of broader commercial flows
• ▪Mastercard does not expect AP4M to be a major revenue driver in the next year
• ▪Mastercard's Chief Product Officer, Jorn Lambert, anticipates AP4M will become a "meaningful new addressable market" within the next five years