Mastercard has launched Agent Connect, a new service designed to give merchants a single connection for product discovery, cart creation and customer-approved payments across AI shopping platforms.
The system links merchants, AI agents, digital platforms and payment providers through one integration. Businesses can use product catalogues they already operate to provide up-to-date information on prices, descriptions and inventory, while customers retain control over whether an AI-initiated purchase is completed.
Mastercard said in a 9 September announcement that Agent Connect will allow merchants to take part in AI-assisted shopping without creating a separate technical integration for every platform.
An AI agent can use the service to search a participating merchant’s products, build a shopping cart and guide the customer towards payment. The transaction can only proceed once the customer has authorised it, keeping the final spending decision with the buyer.
The integration is intended to replace a series of disconnected systems by connecting retailers directly with AI agents, digital platforms and payment companies. Mastercard said the use of existing catalogues would allow businesses to provide current product details, pricing and stock information during an AI-led shopping journey.
That accuracy is important because an agent could recommend an item or prepare an order without the customer ever opening a conventional product page. Agent Connect gives merchants a direct role in supplying the information used by the software.
Mastercard said merchants will also retain control of their branding, prices and customer relationships. The service is designed to keep businesses involved from the initial product search through to the completed transaction, rather than reducing their role to fulfilling orders.
That control could become increasingly significant as shoppers move from retailer websites and search engines to conversational AI tools. Incorrect prices or stock details supplied by an external agent could result in failed purchases, refunds and complaints.
Agent Connect forms part of Mastercard’s Agent Suite for Merchants, which brings its AI shopping and payment services together. Merchants can use the suite within their own digital channels, allowing customers to search for products, compare choices, receive recommendations and complete checkout.
Mastercard adds Anthropic tools
Mastercard is also working with Anthropic to provide businesses with a commerce-agent blueprint that combines Claude models with Mastercard’s payment capabilities. Merchants can use the framework to create shopping agents while maintaining control of their digital storefronts.
The updated suite is intended to support customers after a payment has been made as well as during product discovery. Mastercard said merchants will be able to deploy AI agents to monitor orders, request refunds and handle returns.
The partnership connects Anthropic’s models with the payment and authorisation systems required to move from a recommendation to a purchase. Consumer approval remains part of the process, while merchants continue to determine product information and commercial terms.
Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert said AI agents would increasingly sit between businesses and their customers during online shopping.
“AI agents will change the buying interface again,” Lambert said.
Mastercard wants merchants to retain control as that interface develops. The Agent Suite is structured to let companies provide AI-supported services through channels they manage, rather than handing the entire shopping experience to external platforms.
The launch follows Mastercard’s rollout in June of an AI payment network supported by Ripple, Coinbase, Stripe, Adyen, Cloudflare, OKX, the Solana Foundation and other companies. More than 30 payment, blockchain and technology firms backed that initiative.
Known as Agent Pay for Machines, the system was designed to handle large numbers of small transactions initiated by autonomous software. Mastercard said users could set spending limits, authorisation requirements and settlement conditions, with transactions able to move through conventional payment networks or stablecoin rails.
Tokenised permissions verify purchases
Agent Pay provides the payment controls for purchases initiated by AI agents. When a customer gives an agent permission to buy something, that authority is recorded through a tokenised permission.
The token helps confirm that the agent was authorised to act and distinguishes an approved purchase from an action outside the customer’s instructions. Mastercard said its approach places identity, consent and payment credentials inside the transaction process instead of treating the AI agent as an ordinary cardholder.
Customer authorisation remains important when software compares products or prepares a cart after receiving a broad request. An instruction to find an item within a particular budget, for example, does not automatically grant unlimited permission to complete every connected transaction.
Tokenised permissions can provide merchants and payment providers with evidence that an agent acted under defined instructions. Mastercard said Agent Pay uses its existing security and payment infrastructure for transactions in which software acts on behalf of a consumer or business.
Stablecoins are also part of Mastercard’s work on agent-led commerce. In May, MoonPay introduced a Mastercard stablecoin card that allows users to authorise AI agents to spend assets held in on-chain wallets.
The MoonAgents Card converts cryptocurrency into fiat at checkout and can be used at merchants accepting Mastercard. MoonPay said agents can initiate payments without customers preloading a separate balance or transferring funds off-chain first.
The combination of card acceptance and stablecoin balances offers developers another way to build automated payment tools. Mastercard’s systems can support either card or stablecoin settlement, depending on the product and participating payment provider.
Mastercard expands software-to-machine payments
Agent Pay for Machines extends the authorisation model beyond consumer shopping, allowing software applications and connected machines to transact with one another. It is designed for repeated, low-value payments that may happen too frequently to require manual approval every time.
Examples could include software paying for digital resources or machines purchasing services under preset conditions. Mastercard said payments can be processed through card networks or stablecoins, while owners retain control through spending limits and authorisation rules.
More than 30 companies have joined the machine-payment initiative. They include Stripe, Coinbase, Adyen, Checkout.com, Cloudflare, OKX and Global Payments, bringing together payment processors, cryptocurrency companies and internet infrastructure providers.
Ripple and Coinbase had previously linked stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure to the need for fast, programmable settlement between autonomous agents. At the June launch, RippleX Senior Vice President Markus Infanger said the XRP Ledger and RLUSD could offer fast settlement, predictable costs, programmable compliance and an audit trail.
Coinbase Head of Stablecoin Business Development Nina Coughlin said the exchange was working with Mastercard on an open and interoperable system for agent-led payments. The companies are combining established payment networks with programmable dollars and standards such as x402, according to her comments at the launch.
For U.S. merchants and payment companies, Mastercard’s regulated digital-asset operations provide another layer. Its American subsidiary received a New York BitLicense in May, allowing it to conduct virtual-currency business in the state.
The New York Department of Financial Services requires BitLicense holders to meet rules covering capitalisation, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering controls, sanctions screening and consumer protection. Mastercard said the approval would support work involving stablecoins and tokenised bank deposits under the compliance standards used across its payment network.
