Visa, Mastercard and Ant International launch AI agent trust framework for payments

Ant International, Mastercard, and Visa have partnered to develop a shared 'Know-Your-Agent' interoperability framework to identify and verify AI agents making purchases. The collaboration, running through the Monetary Authority of Singapore's BuildFin.ai platform, aims to standardize security and behavioral requirements. This initiative addresses McKinsey projections that AI agents will handle $3 trillion to $5 trillion in global consumer commerce by 2030, ensuring secure transactions across diverse payment networks.

Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework

• ▪The Know-Your-Agent framework aims to reduce integration costs and accelerate the launch of new agentic services by providing greater trust and risk visibility.
• ▪The Know-Your-Agent framework is designed to allow card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms, and online marketplaces to recognize trusted AI agents across different payment ecosystems.
• ▪Ant International, Mastercard, and Visa announced a collaboration on September 10, 2026, to develop a shared Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework to identify and verify AI agents.
• ▪Under the Know-Your-Agent framework, participating networks will maintain their own individual approval and risk-management processes.

AI agent payment security requirements

• ▪The Know-Your-Agent framework focuses on operator traceability across networks, shared certification against security and behavioral requirements, and continuous monitoring of each agent.
• ▪The collaborative framework builds on existing individual protocols, including Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard's Verifiable Intent, and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol.
• ▪Ant International Chief Innovation Officer Jiang-Ming Yang stated that the framework aims to ensure safety against the potential for AI agent hallucinations.

Agentic commerce market projections

• ▪McKinsey projections cited by the companies estimate that AI agents will handle $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global consumer commerce by 2030.
• ▪The payments industry is preparing for a shift in agentic global consumer commerce where AI agents evolve from making recommendations to completing purchases.

BuildFin.ai collaboration platform

• ▪The BuildFin.ai platform brings together financial institutions, technology providers, and researchers to develop AI solutions for financial services.
• ▪Ant International, Mastercard, and Visa will collaborate on the framework through BuildFin.ai, a platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
• ▪The work on BuildFin.ai builds on the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime framework.

Digital wallet payment systems

• ▪Ant International runs the Alipay+ system, which connects 150 million merchants to more than 50 digital wallets and banking apps.
• ▪Ant International separated nearly three years prior to September 2026 from Hangzhou-based Ant Group, which operates the Alipay mobile payments app.
• ▪According to payment processing company Worldpay, digital wallets accounted for 56% of global e-commerce value and 33% of point-of-sale value in 2025.

Card network payment infrastructure

• ▪Visa, Mastercard, and Ant International had each introduced their own individual secure payment protocols for AI agents within the 12 months preceding September 2026.
• ▪Alipay announced on September 9, 2026, that its users can set regular requests to make Starbucks orders and Didi ride-hailing requests via an AI feature.