Mastercard Agent Pay lets AI agents pay shops and government offices
Mastercard makes Agent Pay on x402, an open source protocol, and agents can pay by card or stablecoin, also in very small payments.
Mastercard launched Agent Pay, a tool that lets AI agents of consumers pay retailers and government services, such as parking tickets. The head of product of Mastercard says that agent shopping is at a point of change and increases fast. The tool uses an open protocol, but no numbers on use or test results are given.
How it works
The tool uses x402, an open source payment protocol that Coinbase started again. It is a messaging language that can transmit card, debit or stablecoin payments. A stablecoin is a digital coin with a value that follows a currency.
It also lets agents make micropayments, such as 27 cents. Mastercard also launched a tool that lets small firms start ad campaigns.
The proof
The head of product says that personal agents for consumers from Meta and OpenAI cause the increase. This is his view, with no numbers.
In a video, a seller gives an agent a $400 budget for a social media campaign. The video is an example, not a measure.
What is not known
No sign is given that Visa and American Express make equivalent tools. It is not known if there is protection for errors or fraud by an agent. It is not known if merchants will accept micropayments.
Insight: Card networks race to set the rules for agent payments
Mastercard uses an open protocol for all payments. American Express protects a Card Member from an agent error only if the agent is registered with Amex and Amex authenticates the purchase intent. This reads as a race to control the gate for agent payments: one side opens it, the other controls who goes in. The rules that merchants use first can set the standard.
Sources
Posted
