Ant International, Mastercard, Visa Collaborate On Know-Your-Agent Framework

(RTTNews) - Mastercard Incorporated (MA), Visa Inc. (V), and Ant International, Singapore-based financial technology company, have started working together on a Know-Your-Agent (KYA) interoperability framework to make it easier for card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms and marketplaces to identify and onboard AI agents across payment networks, the companies said in a statement.

The companies said they will work toward common principles for verifying agents and establishing trust, while each network will continue to use its own verification and decision-making processes.

The three companies already have their own agent payment protocols — Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard's Verifiable Intent and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol.

The proposed framework would allow trust signals for verified agents to be recognized across different payment networks and wallets. This could reduce duplicate identity checks and make it faster and less costly for businesses to launch agent-based payment services.

The collaboration will focus on three areas: linking each agent to a verified operator, cardholder or business; assessing agents against security and behavioral requirements; and continuously monitoring agents using identity and transaction data.

The companies will work through BuildFin.ai in Singapore to develop common approaches for AI agent verification, accountability and risk management. BuildFin.ai is an industry platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

"Collaborations like this can help create more consistency, better accountability, and greater confidence across the payments ecosystem as AI-driven transactions become more common," said Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, Visa.

"Interoperability across Know-Your-Agent frameworks is essential to making agentic commerce work at scale, giving merchants, platforms, wallets and issuers a consistent way to recognise trusted agents, verify that actions reflect the user's intent, and preserve accountability across the transaction," said Pablo Fourez, Chief Digital Officer, Mastercard.

"We look forward to expanding collaboration as the industry draws on richer signals — capabilities, behavior, execution performance, and risk data — to enhance trust and simplify transactions for our clients and their customers," said Jiang-Ming Yang, Chief Innovation Officer of Ant International.

Mastercard shares closed down 0.59% at $567.50 and Visa shares fell 0.34% to close at $367.39 on Wednesday.