Agentic Payments Bypass Card Networks: Alternative Settlement Rails Process 191 Million Transactions

Alternative Rails for AI Agents Hit 191 Million Transactions

Alternative settlement rails built for AI agents have processed a cumulative 191 million transactions, according to Forkast. These rails are being used to bypass traditional card-network acquiring processes.

According to the report, agent-initiated payments often stall within card-network systems at risk-control and identity-verification steps, pushing developers toward settlement paths built on stablecoins and machine-payment protocols.

The figure represents cumulative transaction count. The report did not disclose the corresponding settlement value, the cutoff date for the tally, or the range of merchants covered. It frames the number as a signal that agentic payments are moving from proof-of-concept toward actual money movement, but does not break down the share held by each individual rail.

Why It Matters

For the industry, rising transaction volume means pre-settlement compliance judgments—payer identity, recipient whitelisting, and per-transaction limit controls—are shifting from optional features to prerequisites for whether a rail can be onboarded by merchants.

Source: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMitAFBVV95cUxPME5EbFZQN2dUalBqWmU4Y05SSG9XdGJtT0htYmlvYl9PbVJmQ1Rqa0JpS29HcFVWalk3Q0ZyRWwwcXROMDNXWmcwOGdnN0NhNFRJQVJMRVZZSVNDRERYRWZKamNoYjJraWQxcTdZMTAtdmRINU1Ud3UwMlpaOU5Vd2gwNzl3MzhsVklTZFAtNmVLTlRYOFFIUk5wLUdFNVlOelBiOXVjWm1sdW9jU1pETjc5MmY?oc=5