Mastercard is expanding its payments infrastructure to support a new generation of AI-powered shopping experiences. The company introduced Agent Connect as merchants prepare for customers who rely on digital assistants to discover products.
The service gives businesses one integration for connecting with AI agents, digital platforms, and payment providers. Mastercard also expanded its Agent Suite with tools designed to support product discovery, cart creation, and authorized purchases.
Agent Connect lets AI agents guide shoppers through different stages of the buying process. However, Mastercard aims to keep merchants involved throughout that journey. Businesses can retain control over their brands, prices, and customer relationships.
Additionally, Mastercard introduced Agent Pay to handle purchases initiated by AI agents. The system uses tokenized authorization to confirm a customer’s intent before completing transactions. Hence, agents cannot independently approve purchases without customer permission.
Mastercard Builds Its AI Payment Strategy
The rollout initially targets US consumers and includes partners such as Samsung and Trip.com. Brazilian digital services company Bemobi will also use the technology.
Moreover, Mastercard already uses AI across roughly one-third of its services. Agent Connect extends that strategy into consumer payments. Consequently, the company is positioning secure authorization as a key requirement for agent-led commerce.
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