Ant International, Visa and Mastercard team up on AI payment standard
Ant International, Visa, and Mastercard are collaborating on a new 'Know Your Agent' standard to secure AI-driven payments. The initiative aims to ensure interoperability and safety as AI agents become more involved in global commerce.
Why it matters
As AI agents begin to handle trillions in commerce, establishing secure, standardized payment protocols is critical for consumer trust and financial stability.
Fintech company Ant International announced Thursday it has signed on Visa and Mastercard to collaborate on a new standard for payments made via AI agents, in a bet that they will be used more and more by consumers and businesses.
In a statement, the companies cited McKinsey projections expecting AI agents will handle $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global consumer commerce by 2030 . But Jiang-Ming Yang, chief innovation officer of Ant International, told CNBC that AI agents' potential for hallucination meant "we need to make sure people feel safe."
"Trust is the foundation of the AI transformation," Yang told CNBC in an interview.
The new collaboration will focus on how the payment companies can "know your agent," Ant said in the announcement, which includes building common standards that link each agent to a valid entity, assess each agent's behavior and monitor them.
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