Agent Payments

BNY Builds Performance Review System for Its ~140 AI Digital Employees

The bank tracks each AI agent's throughput, cycle time, and missed transactions on real-time dashboards, and coaches underperformers like new hires.

HSBC and Ant Digital Test Tokenised Deposits for AI Agent Micropayments

The pilot explores whether bank deposit tokens can settle small, high-frequency machine-to-machine transactions, offering an alternative to stablecoins in agent-driven payments.

XRP Processes Over 8 Million x402 Payments in 30 Days as AI Agent Activity Heats Up

The XRP Ledger's surge in HTTP 402-based machine payments signals that stablecoin micropayments between AI agents are moving from testing into continuous operation.

Sui Off-Chain Channels Hit 40.6 Million TPS in Test Simulating High-Frequency AI Agent Trading

Sui's programmable off-chain tunnels reached a peak throughput of 40,614,180 TPS in a live stress test, up sharply from roughly 6.1 million TPS in July, as the Layer-1 positions itself for AI agent-to-agent payments.

OCBC and Ant International Launch Tokenised Deposits for Treasury Management

The offering maps bank deposits on-chain for corporate fund transfers and settlement, as tokenised deposits gain traction in Asia-Pacific as a compliant route for banks to enter on-chain settlement.

Meta and Sierra Join Forces with Multiple Companies to Build Personal AI Agent Interaction Standard

Meta and Sierra have partnered with Genesys, Instinct, Rocket, Shopify, Stripe, Walmart, and others to develop the Personal Agent Protocol, defining how personal AI agents interact with businesses.

Crypto Card Payments Hit Record $12.5 Billion as Stablecoin Settlement Demand Drives 247% Year-over-Year Growth

Visa Doubles Down on Stablecoins and AI Payments: Why Investors Are Watching

Visa is folding stablecoin settlement and AI-agent payments into its core strategy as the card giant races to lead in machine-to-machine transactions.

OKX Launches 50-Fiat Digital Dollar Platform, Betting on Stablecoin Demand in Emerging Markets

The crypto exchange now lets users convert 50 local currencies directly into dollar-pegged stablecoins, targeting savers in inflation-hit economies and bypassing traditional banking rails.

Stable Partners with Visa Direct to Bridge Stablecoin Settlement and Bank Accounts

Stablecoin payment platform Stable has integrated Visa Direct to connect stablecoin settlement rails directly with bank accounts, aiming to streamline fiat off-ramps.

Cloudflare Adds a Paywall to MCP Tools: Who Signs Off on an Agent's Right to Spend?

Cloudflare is bringing paid access into MCP tool calls, turning 'who authorizes, who sets limits, who intercepts before settlement' from an engineering detail into foundational infrastructure for agent payments.

Apple and Google Simultaneously Ramp Up Stablecoin Efforts with Hiring Spree

Both tech giants have posted multiple stablecoin and digital asset settlement roles, signaling early preparations for stablecoin-based payments and machine-to-machine transactions.

Mastercard Launches Agentic Commerce Trust Services as Card Networks Begin Issuing 'IDs' to AI Agents

After opening Agent payment rails, Mastercard shifts its focus to the identity and authorization layer: when the payer is no longer a human, what card networks must resolve is 'who is paying, on what authority, and whether this payment should happen at all.'

Airbnb CEO Says It Won't Open Bookings to External AI Agents Like Meta Muse

Brian Chesky says travel planning is entertainment and Airbnb wants to keep direct consumer relationships, as tourism firms grow wary of AI assistants bypassing their platforms.

Synchrony Executive: AI Shopping Agents Stall at the Trust Layer, Payments Infrastructure Remains the Weak Link

AI agents can already recommend products and compare prices, but the missing piece between 'suggestion' and 'spending the consumer's money' is an entire stack of underlying infrastructure—from universal commerce protocols and identity verification to proof of authorized intent and a new trust layer for machine-initiated transactions.

Ethereum Foundation Launches zkAPI, Letting Users Pay for AI Model Calls Anonymously

The Ethereum Foundation has released a new tool called zkAPI that allows users to pay for AI model calls without disclosing their identity.

Mastercard Adds AI Agent Trust Services to Agent Pay

The card network is embedding identity and authorization verification for AI agents directly into its existing payment rails as agentic commerce moves from pilot to real money flows.

Shopify Opens Checkout to AI Agents, WebMCP Enables Authorized Shop Pay Payments

Shopify lets browser-based AI agents complete checkout on behalf of buyers and standardizes agent-merchant interactions through UCP.

Shopify Opens Checkout to Browser-Based AI Agents

The e-commerce platform is letting in-browser agents complete purchases on users' behalf, pushing agentic payments from backend APIs into the consumer checkout flow.

Capital One Says Agentic AI Deployment Hinges on Data Foundation and Platform-First Approach

Capital One's enterprise AI vice president says scaling agentic AI depends on a solid data foundation and a platform-first mindset, and that agent systems capable of real action must be treated as end-to-end systems.

Ripple Launches XRPL AI Starter Kit, Enabling x402 Machine Payments in XRP and RLUSD

Ripple has released the XRPL AI Starter Kit, allowing developers to integrate the x402 machine payment protocol on the XRP Ledger and settle transactions in XRP and RLUSD.

UK's Largest Banks Complete World's First Interbank Transactions Using Tokenized Deposits

HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Santander UK have completed the world's first interbank transactions using tokenized deposits, moving money directly between banks via distributed ledger technology rather than through traditional centralized clearing systems.

Elliptic Launches AI Tool That Lets Law Enforcement Read Crypto Wallets in Seconds

The blockchain analytics firm is pushing AI directly into the hands of frontline investigators, extending its reach from compliance departments to real-time enforcement.

Proof and Superfluid Test Reusable Identity Solution for AI Agent Wallets

Anthropic Launches Project Swap to Test Autonomous Trading by AI Agents

The research project examines how AI agents behave when granted trading authority, probing the limits of authorization, spending caps, and anomaly detection.

Deutsche Bank Deploys Agentic AI for KYC Client Wealth Tracing

The German lender is automating wealth-origin checks and due diligence with agentic AI as global banks face mounting AML and KYC pressures.

LianLian DigiTech Unveils 'LianLian Zhishu' at Yunqi Conference, Building an Enterprise AI Orchestration Hub

The payments and cross-border settlement firm is extending beyond its core business into enterprise AI infrastructure with a multi-model routing and scheduling platform.

PayU Positions for the Agentic Commerce Era, Where Payment Goes Beyond Checkout

The Indian payments provider is rebuilding its capabilities around AI-agent-driven transactions, extending its role from checkout to verifying intent, limits, and counterparties.

PayPal and Meta Partner to Let AI Agents Complete Shopping Payments Directly

The collaboration embeds PayPal's payment infrastructure into Meta's agentic shopping experience, allowing users to purchase and pay within a conversation—raising fresh questions about identity verification and authorization in agent-initiated transactions.

Kakao Pay and KakaoBank Team Up with Fireblocks to Explore Won Stablecoin Infrastructure

The Korean payments and banking arms of the Kakao ecosystem have signed an MoU with Fireblocks to run proof-of-concept tests for on-chain digital asset infrastructure, with a focus on stablecoins.

Cardano Joins Solana and XRP Ledger in Race to Power AI Agent Payments

Cardano becomes the latest public blockchain to announce support for AI agent payments, entering a field already staked out by Solana and XRP Ledger.

Alchemy Launches AgentCard: AI Agents Can Pay Directly Within Mastercard's Acceptance Network

Alchemy has released AgentCard, enabling AI agents to complete payments anywhere within Mastercard's online acceptance footprint—pushing agent payments from the protocol layer into the real card network, where authorization and risk controls become the critical link.

Arc Launches USDC Agent Payments Across Three Chains, Eliminating Gas Wallet Operations

Arc's new payment feature lets AI agents settle USDC transfers on three blockchains while handling on-chain fees on its side, removing the need for agents to hold native gas tokens.

UnionPay International Partners with TripGuru.ai to Launch Agentic Payments

UnionPay International is connecting its card network to a third-party AI agent platform for the first time, enabling travel-planning agents to initiate and complete payments on behalf of users.

Ripple Connects XRP to Stripe's AI Agent Payments, Choosing XRP Over RLUSD for Settlement

Ripple has integrated XRP into Stripe's payment system for AI agents, serving as the settlement channel for agent sessions. According to 247wallst.com, this integration allows Stripe's AI agent payment process to clear and settle directly in XRP, rather than using Ripple's own stablecoin RLUSD.

Ant International Launches Dedicated Bank Accounts for AI Agents, Promises 100% Compensation for Agent Errors

Ant International has rolled out an 'Account for Agent' under its global account brand WorldFirst, running on Know Your Agent smart contracts that monitor agent activity in real time and allow enterprises to intervene.

Ant International Unveils Nearly 100 AI-Native Financial Products Spanning Payments, FX and Treasury

The suite is built on two in-house foundation models and includes a blockchain-based wholesale settlement platform and a new agentic mobile protocol.

Stripe Wallet Opens the Door to AI Agent Payments

Stripe is bringing AI agent-initiated payments into its wallet layer, signaling that agentic payments are moving from experimental use cases toward mainstream payment rails.

Shopify Partners with Meta to Advance AI Payments, Moving into the Agent Settlement Layer

Shopify and Meta are integrating AI agent payment capabilities across their platforms, allowing merchants to have AI agents initiate and complete transaction settlements within Meta's apps. The move shifts the payment initiator from consumers to AI agents, raising new questions around identity verification, authorization limits, and payee whitelisting.

WTO Stablecoin Report Cites XDC Network, Circle and BIS as B2B Stablecoin Payments Jump 733% Year-on-Year

The World Trade Organization's new stablecoin report references XDC Network, Circle and the Bank for International Settlements, signaling that stablecoins are being drawn into discussions of international trade infrastructure as B2B payment volumes surge.

Singapore Banks' AI Scaling Debate Heats Up for 2027

A new commentary examines how Singapore's banks plan to move AI from pilots to scaled operations by 2027, with implications for agent payments and stablecoin settlement.

PayPal Pushes Agentic Payments: Can It Unlock the Next Growth Curve?

PayPal is betting on AI agent-driven payments as its next growth engine, but adoption and compliance remain open questions.

Mastercard CFO: Stablecoins and Value-Added Services Drive Growth, AI Agent Commerce Becomes New Battleground

New CFO Ling Hai outlines capital allocation strategy focused on frontline sales, targeted acquisitions, and infrastructure expansion as Mastercard positions itself as a B2B technology provider.

IIFAA Forms Trusted Agent Identity Working Group, with Over 50 Institutions Joining Ecosystem Effort

The alliance aims to establish a unified framework for mutual trust in AI agent payments and identity verification, though technical specifications and timelines remain undisclosed.

Kimi, BAI and Nature Select Discuss Agent Commerce: AI Payment Growth Comes from Silicon-Based Life

At a recent discussion on the new business of AI agents, representatives from Kimi, BAI (Bertelsmann Asia Investments) and Nature Select explored payment scenarios for AI agents, arguing that the incremental growth in AI payments will come not from traditional human users' credit cards or traffic monetization, but from "silicon-based life"—machine-to-machine transactions initiated by AI agents themselves.

Alipay to Launch AI Wallet Agent

Alipay is developing a wallet agent for AI-agent scenarios, allowing users to make payments and transfers via natural-language commands. The move signals that agentic payments are moving from protocol frameworks into mainstream wallet products.

Ant Group Launches APASS to Build Trust and Payment Infrastructure for AI Agents

Ant Group unveils APASS, a trust infrastructure for AI agents, aiming to enable identity verification, authorization, and payment settlement in real-world commercial scenarios.

Solana Builds Settlement Stack for Machine Payments, Processes 15 Million Transactions

Solana's settlement stack, designed for high-frequency micropayments initiated by AI agents and automated programs, has quietly processed roughly 15 million machine-to-machine transactions on the mainnet.

Cardano Integrates x402 Payment Protocol, ADA Jumps 8% in a Day

Cardano becomes the latest Layer 1 to adopt Coinbase's HTTP 402-based standard, targeting native payments for AI agents and machine-to-machine transactions.

India Plans AI Registry to Advance Agentic Payments

The registry would log AI agents involved in automated transactions, laying groundwork for identity verification and liability attribution in payment scenarios.

The Messy Middle of Agentic Payments Takes Center Stage as Endgame Narratives Stall

The industry loves to imagine AI agents paying and settling on their own. The hard part is everything in between: identity, delegated intent, spend limits, and payee whitelists.

PYMNTS: AI Agents Don't Need Company Bank Accounts — They Need 'Permissioned Funding'

Circle Launches x402 Service Directory: Discover USDC-Enabled Agent Payment Services with a Single API Call

Circle's new directory lets developers find and integrate USDC-settling x402 services through one API call, advancing its push into agent payment infrastructure.

Consumers Use AI Assistants but Won't Hand Over Their Wallets: Visa Data Reveals the Agent Payment Trust Gap

Visa research shows 72% of consumers have used AI assistants, but only 23% trust them to handle payments; trust rises to 61% when a payment brand is involved. Trust is the core bottleneck for agent payment adoption, and the industry is breaking through with brand endorsement and tiered authorization.

Circle Launches Fast Deposit, Speeding Up Fiat Gateway Deposits by 40x

Circle's new Fast Deposit service aims to slash fiat-to-USDC conversion times for enterprise clients, intensifying competition in the stablecoin payments space.

Visa CEO: AI Shopping Has Arrived, but Agentic Payments Haven't

Consumers are using AI to shop, but they're not yet ready to hand over payment control to autonomous agents, Visa's chief executive said Tuesday.

Huaxi Securities: AI Drives Dual Acceleration in Cross-Border Payments—Rules and Technology

AI agents are reshaping cross-border payments, pushing both regulatory frameworks and technical infrastructure forward, according to Huaxi Securities' latest computer industry weekly.

SWIFT Doesn't Touch Money: How a Non-Settling Company Sat at the Center of Cross-Border Payments for 50 Years

It holds no funds, bears no credit risk, and competes with no customer. The six things it got right are now replaying in agentic payments.

Goldman Sachs, BofA Among 21 Banks Planning Joint Dollar Stablecoin

A consortium of 21 banks, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, is reportedly developing a dollar-pegged stablecoin for institutional payments and cross-border settlements, aiming to challenge incumbents like USDC and USDT.

AWS Brings x402 Agent Payments to the Edge

AWS extends x402-based agent payments to edge computing, enabling AI agents to autonomously handle machine-to-machine payments in scenarios like IoT and CDNs, settled in stablecoins such as USDC.

a16z's Five Charts Break Down Argentina's Stablecoin Reality: Dollarized Payments in an Inflationary Economy Pave the Way for Agent Payments

a16z uses five charts to showcase real-world stablecoin use cases in Argentina—from savings to cross-border remittances and everyday transactions. The data reveals genuine demand for dollarized payments in an inflationary economy and offers a blueprint for AI agent payments in similar environments.

Dunamu Partners with Visa to Advance Stablecoin and AI Payments

The Korean digital asset exchange will explore stablecoin settlement, AI agent payments, and cross-border remittance use cases with Visa's global network.

China's Payment & Clearing Association Issues AI Agent Payment Guidelines, Introducing "Know Your Agent"

Regulators issue compliance guidelines for AI agent payments, mandating explicit user authorization, per-transaction records for large amounts, and pre-settlement screening by payment service providers.

XDC Network: AI Agents Could Disrupt Invoicing and Card Payment Flows

Enterprise blockchain XDC says AI agents could compress B2B payment cycles from days to minutes, while urging the industry to adopt a 'Know Your Agent' framework for compliance.

Circle CEO on USDC and AI Payments: Next Five Years Focused on Agent Payment Compliance

Jeremy Allaire sees machine-to-machine payments as the next growth engine for stablecoins, with compliance infrastructure becoming a prerequisite.

USDC Captures 99.3% Share of x402 AI Agent Payments

Circle's USDC stablecoin dominates machine-to-machine payments on the x402 protocol, signaling a pivotal shift in autonomous agent commerce.

OpenPayd Partners with Circle to Enable Near-Instant Settlement for Cross-Border Fiat Payments

The collaboration integrates Circle's payment infrastructure to compress clearing and settlement from days to seconds, bridging traditional fiat rails with stablecoin technology.

Visa Becomes First Card Network to Settle Regulated Stablecoins Under MAS Framework

Visa announced this week it has become the first card network to support stablecoin settlement under the Monetary Authority of Singapore's regulatory framework, enabling licensed payment institutions to settle merchant transactions via USDC and other stablecoins.

x402-recovery Scores 62 in Practicality Rating, Bringing Programmable Payment Recovery to Fault-Prone Networks

A new addition to the x402 ecosystem targets machine-to-machine payment resilience with programmable recovery logic for disrupted payment channels.

Coinbase Launches AiFi, Bets on Agent Payments After x402 Volumes Top $100M

The crypto exchange rolls out a payment solution for AI agents, built on the x402 standard, as machine-to-machine payments move from test to real money.

OSL Launches AgentPay, Enabling Stablecoin Payments for AI Agents

Hong Kong-licensed digital asset platform OSL introduces AgentPay, a stablecoin payment service for AI agents, initially targeting enterprise clients.

AI Booking a Gym Class Exposes Payment Security Flaws: Claude Research Highlights Agent Payment Risks

A study involving Anthropic's Claude reveals that a simple AI request to book a gym class could expose critical payment security vulnerabilities, urging standardized safeguards for machine-initiated transactions.

Mastercard and Pexa Team Up to Test Synchronized Settlement for UK Home Purchases

Mastercard is partnering with UK property platform Pexa to pilot a programmable payment-based synchronized settlement solution aimed at streamlining fund transfers in the home-buying process.

AIIB Taps Hong Kong Ecosystem to Explore Digital Settlement Systems

The multilateral development bank is assessing tokenized payments for cross-border settlement, with Hong Kong as its first pilot observation window.

XPlace Taps Credit Coop's On-Chain Revolving Credit to Fund Card Settlement

Dubai-based XPlace replaces pre-funded settlement reserves with a drawable on-chain credit line, freeing working capital and scaling card volume on demand.

Fun CEO: Standalone On/Off Ramps and Cross-Chain Bridges Will Disappear as Payments Go Invisible

Alex Fine, CEO of payment infrastructure company Fun, says crypto on/off ramps and cross-chain bridges will be embedded directly into apps—users won't need to notice them.

Visa Won't Bet on a Single Stablecoin: Multi-Chain Payments Become the Mainstream Strategy

Visa says it will support multiple stablecoins and blockchains, signaling a shift from single-asset to multi-chain settlement in cross-border payments.

Visa and Lianlian Complete First Real-Time B2B Agent Transaction: Agent Payments Enter Actual Settlement

Visa and Lianlian have completed the first real-time B2B Agent transaction through LoopXPay, marking the first time machine-initiated commercial payments settled with real funds — moving the industry from proof of concept to production.

AI Agents Learn to Pay: Agentic Finance Becomes Crypto's New Narrative

Decrypt reports that AI agents' payment capabilities are giving rise to the agentic finance narrative, with machine-to-machine payments becoming one of the most compelling use cases for stablecoins.

Lianlian Partners with UnionPay: AI Agents Enter the Cross-Border Payment Execution Stage

Corpay Launches Agent Card, Enabling AI Agents with Virtual Card Payments

The new tool allows AI agents to generate single-use virtual card numbers for automated procurement and subscription payments.

Movement Recruits Industry Veterans to Bet on Emerging Markets, Agent Payment Settlement Infrastructure Accelerates

Movement announces hiring of senior experts in payments and stablecoins, accelerating stablecoin adoption in emerging markets like Africa and Southeast Asia, reflecting the underlying demand for efficient cross-border settlement in the AI Agent economy.

Mastercard Completes First AI Agent Transaction in Malaysia with CIMB and RHB in Pilot

Real-time AI agent payment pilot goes live, Mastercard Agent Pay enters production validation, and Know Your Agent (KYA) compliance shifts from optional to essential infrastructure.

Sunrate and Mastercard Release White Paper: Agentic AI Reshapes B2B Cross-Border Payments

The report outlines how AI agents are moving from decision support to autonomous execution in global B2B payments, introducing the 'Agent Pay' framework for programmable compliance and pre-settlement verification.

Coinbase Opens Enterprise Payments to AI Agents, Expanding Agent Payment Use Cases

Coinbase now allows enterprise clients to accept USDC payments initiated by AI agents via Coinbase Commerce. The move marks another milestone in machine-to-machine payments as leading platforms push toward commercial adoption.

Agent Commerce Accelerates, Reshaping the Competitive Logic of the Payments Industry

Research from Accenture, Visa, and Mastercard shows AI agents are moving beyond product search and recommendations into price comparison, payment method selection, and transaction initiation, making 'agent commerce' a new competitive variable in payments.