On September 9, 2026, Visa, Mastercard and Ant International announced they are working together on Know-Your-Agent (KYA), a shared framework to identify AI agents that shop on a customer's behalf. Agentic commerce, transactions triggered by an AI assistant rather than a person in front of a screen, is no longer a hypothesis: payment networks are already organizing to support it. For a small business selling online, this announcement deserves attention even before it becomes mandatory.
In brief
- Visa, Mastercard and Ant International announced on September 9, 2026 a collaboration on a Know-Your-Agent (KYA) framework, meant to make a buying AI agent recognizable across the entire payment ecosystem.
- The framework connects three protocols that were previously separate: Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard's Verifiable Intent, and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol.
- According to projections cited by McKinsey, AI agents could orchestrate between $3 trillion and $5 trillion of global commerce by 2030.
- A PYMNTS Intelligence study found that nearly 90 % of enterprises consider bot management difficult, and that outdated digital identity controls cost roughly $100 billion a year in fraud and lost sales.
- At this stage, the KYA framework has no published technical specification and no rollout timeline: it is a statement of intent, not yet an operational standard.
What exactly is agentic commerce?
Agentic commerce refers to purchases made by an AI agent (a conversational assistant or an autonomous app) acting on behalf of a human customer: comparing offers, filling a cart, confirming a payment, sometimes without direct human involvement at the moment of the transaction. This is no longer a research scenario: Visa, Mastercard and Ant International had each been building their own piece since 2025, before deciding to connect them.
The problem these companies are trying to solve is simple to state: how can a merchant, a bank or a platform know that a payment request really comes from an agent authorized by its owner, rather than a malicious bot impersonating that role? Without a shared answer, each payment network would have imposed its own verification, multiplying the technical integrations merchants would need to handle.
2025
Three separate protocols
September 9, 2026
Know-Your-Agent framework announced
By 2030
Agentic commerce at scale
Three protocols, one shared goal
Each network brings its own existing building block to the KYA framework. The table below summarizes what each one covers today.
| Protocol | Backed by | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Trusted Agent Protocol | Visa | A dozen partners already connected, including Shopify and Stripe |
| Verifiable Intent | Mastercard | Open standard, co-developed with Google |
| Agentic Mobile Protocol | Ant International | Mobile payment ecosystem that processed over $13 trillion in transactions in 2025 |
The KYA framework is meant to connect these three building blocks around three principles: cross-network operator traceability (knowing who authorized an agent), shared certification requirements (a common verification baseline), and continuous transaction monitoring to catch abnormal behavior after the fact, not only at the moment of payment.
Rubail Birwadker, senior vice president at Visa, summed up the stakes this way: "without trusted identity and explicit permissioning, AI agents cannot participate in commerce at scale." Pablo Fourez, Mastercard's chief digital officer, stressed interoperability as a condition for agentic commerce to work at scale.
What this concretely means for a small business
A small business selling online doesn't need to act immediately: the KYA framework is, for now, only a statement of intent between three major networks, with no public technical specification and no implementation date. But three practical consequences are already taking shape for the months ahead.
First, distinguishing a legitimate agent from a fraudulent bot will become a direct issue for every online store. An AI agent capable of filling a cart and paying looks, technically, like an automated attack bot. Without a shared recognition framework, a merchant risks either blocking legitimate customers who use an AI assistant, or letting fraudulent transactions through.
Second, platforms already connected to Visa (Shopify, Stripe and about a dozen others) will have an implementation head start: integrating with a shared framework will cost less than managing three separate verification systems.
Finally, end-customer trust remains the real hurdle. A Product.ai study cited in the trade press found that only 14 % of consumers trust an AI to make a purchase without human verification, and that 42 % refuse this delegation above $25. The technical framework can exist without usage catching up right away.
Without a shared framework (today)
Each payment network imposes its own agent verification. Risk of confusing a legitimate agent with a fraudulent bot. Multiplied integration costs for merchants working across networks.
With Know-Your-Agent (eventually)
An AI agent recognized once, valid across several payment networks. Traceability of the authorization granted by the customer. Continuous transaction monitoring to detect anomalies.
Key takeaway
The KYA framework imposes nothing on a small business today. But any merchant selling online should follow this story: how a site will tomorrow distinguish a human customer from a legitimate AI shopping agent will depend directly on standards like this one.
Limitations to keep in mind
At this stage, this announcement remains a statement of intent. As of September 9, 2026, no technical specification, governance body, or timeline has been published. Industry observers also point to a governance risk: nothing guarantees that Visa, Mastercard and Ant International will build a truly open standard rather than a system that favors incumbents already in place. A small business has no urgency to change its payment infrastructure, but it should stay informed as the project takes shape.
FAQ
What is agentic commerce?
Agentic commerce refers to purchases made by an AI agent (a conversational assistant or autonomous app) on behalf of a human customer, from comparing offers to completing payment, sometimes without direct human involvement at the moment of the transaction.
What is the Know-Your-Agent (KYA) framework?
It is a collaboration announced on September 9, 2026 by Visa, Mastercard and Ant International, aimed at connecting their respective AI agent recognition protocols to enable common identification across the whole payment ecosystem.
Does a small business need to adapt to agentic commerce already?
Not urgently. The KYA framework has no published technical specification and no rollout date. A small business selling online can follow the story without changing its payment infrastructure right away.
Do AI shopping agents present a fraud risk?
Yes, as long as no shared recognition standard exists: a legitimate agent can be mistaken for a fraudulent bot, and vice versa. That is precisely the problem the KYA framework aims to solve, through traceability and continuous transaction monitoring.
To learn more about the protocols that let AI agents communicate with each other, read our article on the A2A protocol and agent interoperability, or explore our resources on AI agents in business.
