Visa, Mastercard and Ant Launch Agent Trust Framework

Visa, Mastercard and Ant International have begun collaborating on a Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework designed to streamline how artificial intelligence agents are identified and onboarded across payment networks, according to a joint announcement. The initiative aims to help card networks, digital wallet ecosystems, agent platforms and marketplaces verify AI agents that increasingly complete purchases on behalf of users, while preserving each network's own verification and decisioning processes. The three companies each already operate their own agent protocols: Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard's Verifiable Intent and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol. Under the new collaboration, they will explore opportunities to work toward common principles. The framework centers on linking each agent to a validated operator, cardholder or business organization for clear attribution, assessing agents against security and behavioral requirements, and continuously monitoring agents using identity and transaction-related signals to support ongoing certification.