Mastercard and Visa Announce Agentic Standards

Mastercard Agent Pay Acceptance Framework

Mastercard presented a framework for how payment networks can recognize and trust AI agents that initiate payments on behalf of users. The goal is to create clear rules and safeguards so that agentic checkout can scale without compromising security or compliance.

Visa Intelligent Commerce

Visa announced an Intelligent Commerce initiative focused on AI and automation in commerce. Details are still emerging, but the direction aligns with supporting agent-driven flows and delegated payment patterns.

How this fits with UCP/ACP

UCP and ACP define how merchants and AI surfaces conduct checkout; card networks are defining how those flows interact with the payment rails. Merchants and platforms implementing UCP or ACP should keep an eye on these network-level standards for long-term compatibility.