Visa and Mastercard sign on to Ant International's standard for verifying AI agents

A shared standard for AI agent identity

@Visa, @Mastercard, and @Ant_Intl announced on September 10, 2026 that they are collaborating on a Know Your Agent (KYA) interoperability framework, a set of common standards designed to identify and verify AI agents that make purchases on behalf of users. The framework would allow card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms, and online marketplaces to recognize trusted AI agents across different payment ecosystems while each network maintains its own approval and risk-management processes.

The centerpiece of the collaboration is a system designed so an agent that has already verified its identity with one payment provider does not have to repeat that process elsewhere. In practice, if an agent registers with Ant, it would not need to register again with Visa or Mastercard, according to Ant International Chief Innovation Officer Jiang-Ming Yang.

The three organizations have previously rolled out their respective protocols: Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent, and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol, and will now explore opportunities to work toward common principles. Merchants and platforms currently face duplicated integration costs because every network expresses identity and consent differently.

Big projections, limited detail

Pablo Fourez, Chief Digital Officer at Mastercard, said that "interoperability across Know-Your-Agent frameworks is essential to making agentic commerce work at scale," stressing the need for a consistent way for merchants and payment processors to recognize which AI agents they can trust.

The companies are backing the initiative with ambitious market projections. By 2030, AI agents are projected to orchestrate $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global consumer commerce. Those figures, cited by all three companies, are attributed to McKinsey.

Despite the institutional weight behind the announcement, the framework is still in early stages. There are no technical specifications, governance bodies, or rollout timelines currently disclosed. The announcement describes a framework under development, not a technical standard already deployed across the three payment networks.

Consumer trust remains a substantial hurdle. According to the Product.ai Trust in AI Commerce Report from April 2026, only 14% of consumers trust AI to execute purchases without verification. That gap underlines why a credible, cross-network identity layer matters, but also why the absence of concrete implementation details will draw scrutiny as the initiative moves forward.

Sources:
CNBC: Ant International partners with Visa, Mastercard on developing AI payments
PYMNTS: Visa and Mastercard Team With Ant on Know Your Agent Framework
Business Recorder: Payment firms Visa, Mastercard and Ant International team up on AI agent trust framework