Ant International, Mastercard and Visa have announced a collaboration on a Know-Your-Agent (KYA) interoperability framework, aiming to streamline how AI agents are identified, verified and onboarded across payment networks. The initiative is designed to support card networks, digital wallet ecosystems, agent platforms and marketplaces as AI-driven commerce scales rapidly.
AI agents are increasingly moving beyond making recommendations to completing purchases on behalf of users. By 2030, AI agents are projected to orchestrate between US$3 trillion and US$5 trillion of global consumer commerce, making robust identity and trust frameworks a critical foundation for the payments industry.
Ant International, Mastercard & Visa To Set Up Agentic Standards
Each of the three organizations has previously developed its own protocol: Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent, and Ant International’s Agentic Mobile Protocol. The new collaboration will explore opportunities to align these on common principles, rather than replacing individual verification and decisioning processes.
The Know-Your-Agent framework centers on three key pillars: cross-network operator traceability links each agent to a validated operator, cardholder, or business, enabling clear attribution of agent activity; shared certification requirements ensure each agent is assessed against defined security and behavioral standards; continuous transaction monitoring evaluates agents using a combination of identity and transaction signals on an ongoing basis.
For service providers, agent platforms and marketplaces, the interoperable KYA framework is intended to reduce integration complexity and duplicative identity verification efforts. The goal is faster time-to-market and lower integration costs for new agentic services, while maintaining trust and risk controls across participating networks.
The three organizations will advance this collaboration through BuildFin.ai, an industry platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). BuildFin.ai brings together financial institutions, technology providers and researchers to develop and scale responsible AI solutions for financial services in Singapore.
The collaboration builds on the Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime (SAFR) framework, focusing on common approaches for AI agent verification, accountability and risk management across payment ecosystems. The effort aims to support secure and scalable agentic commerce, ensuring AI agents can operate safely while maintaining strong safeguards for consumers, merchants and financial institutions.
Pokdepinion: Three giants agreeing on anything is big news, but it has to be said there’s plenty of incentive agreeing on how AI should handle your money.
