This week, Visa and Mastercard announced they are partnering with Ant International to develop a shared system for identifying and trusting AI shopping agents. The card giants want to ensure that these digital assistants pay through their networks.
On September 10, the three companies unveiled a shared Know Your Agent (KYA) framework together. Each firm currently operates its own system. Visa’s is the Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard relies on Verifiable Intent, and Ant has Agentic Mobile Protocol. The purpose remains the same for all three: an agent approved on one network ought to be accepted by the others.
What the collaboration actually builds
Before checking out, the system verifies whether an AI agent has been granted trust and permission to proceed. That verification step is the entire purpose of the framework. Every network operates its own approval process independently, and neither the companies nor the merchant pilots have set a timeline for how quickly the process will move forward.
Research from McKinsey, cited by the companies, estimates that AI agents could manage anywhere from $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global consumer spending by 2030. Jiang-Ming Yang, the chief innovation officer at Ant, described interoperable trust between card and wallet networks as “critical” for the development of commerce conducted by agents.
How Visa and Mastercard make money from your spending
The networks that link your bank, merchant, and payment are operated by Visa and Mastercard. Each time a transaction moves through, they take a small fee based on the volume involved. This arrangement grows along with how much people spend.
Your spare hours each day decide how much shopping you do. Only so much room exists for comparing and choosing things while you’re not working. Agents change that by taking over the buying process themselves, letting software follow your needs and spend money inside the limits you set. This arrangement could lead to a larger total number of purchases being made.
Why the deal fits Visa’s security push
Years of effort have gone into fraud protection and identity verification tools at both companies, and for Visa, that particular part of its business is now the main source of growth.
Visa’s recent purchase of fraud-detection firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion, announced in August, fits with that trend. The deal was described by CNBC as a reaction to a rise in AI-powered scams.
The fair question the deal raises
Who watches over software that handles your money? That is the fair question raised by the announcement. The KYA framework seeks to answer it by checking whether an agent has permission before it completes a transaction.
Neither company has announced a timeline for the framework’s completion, nor has either revealed which merchants will get the first look at it. For customers who plan to entrust their spending to an automated system, those specifics carry weight.
Timeline of the announcement
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 10 | Visa, Mastercard, and Ant International announce joint KYA framework |
| August | Visa agrees to buy fraud-detection firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion |
What the deal signals
Visa and Mastercard are staking their future on payments being handled by AI agents. They want their networks to carry those agents when they arrive. The KYA framework is what they’re using to make sure those agents can be trusted.
Consumers face a practical concern tied to the deal: if an agent earns certification as trustworthy, what entity certifies the agent itself? The announcement offers no reply to that query.
The acquisition sends a signal to investors about where these firms are placing their bets. As fraud detection becomes more important, Visa’s purchase of BioCatch makes that plain.
No target date has been given by the companies for finishing the project, which is still under development. It is not yet clear whether it will become a standard.
The three companies are wagering that artificial intelligence investment will define how business gets done. Their KYA system is designed to ensure that any such future runs through their own systems.
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