Payment giants are building systems for “agentic commerce,” a world where artificial-intelligence assistants could search, compare and eventually make purchases for consumers.
The next major change in online shopping may not be another marketplace or app. It could be letting artificial intelligence shop for you.
Mastercard and Visa are developing payment infrastructure intended for a new generation of AI shopping agents capable of moving beyond product recommendations to completing transactions on a consumer’s behalf.
Mastercard describes the emerging model as “agentic commerce,” in which consumers give AI agents boundaries and instructions and allow the software to search, compare, decide and transact.
The development raises an obvious question: How does a bank or merchant know that an AI bot is actually authorized to spend someone’s money?
Payment companies are working on systems involving authenticated AI identities, tokenized payment credentials and clearer authorization standards. Mastercard says trust, transparency and safeguards will be central if consumers are going to delegate purchasing decisions to software.
For consumers, the change could eventually mean telling an AI assistant to find a flight, replace a broken appliance or order groceries within a budget — and allowing the software to handle much of the transaction.
Sources
Mastercard; The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 2026.
