Mastercard and Alchemy extended Alchemy's AgentCard platform to Mastercard credentials for authorised purchases made by artificial-intelligence agents. The service uses one-time tokenised Mastercard credentials linked to an existing payment card. Alchemy said AgentCard was available for online use wherever Mastercard is accepted.
The Wall Street Journal reported the partnership on 17 September. The partners said consumers must authorise an agent before it can transact. Users and issuers can apply controls covering purchase limits, merchant categories and location. The system is intended to carry existing payment protections into transactions initiated by software agents.
TOKENISED CREDENTIALS LIMIT EXPOSURE
AgentCard generates a credential for a purchase rather than disclosing the underlying card number to the agent. The credential is linked to the customer’s existing account and operates within the permissions established for the transaction. Mastercard Verifiable Intent, which the service supports, records what the user approved, such as the merchant and the amount.
Purchase limits and merchant-category controls can narrow what an agent is allowed to buy. Location restrictions provide another layer of issuer or user oversight.
AGENTIC COMMERCE STILL FACES TRUST QUESTIONS
Mastercard launched Agent Pay in April 2025 and added Verifiable Intent to it in March 2026. AgentCard gives Mastercard and Alchemy a method for recording user intent and applying familiar card controls. Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert told the Wall Street Journal: “We believe it’s not about if, it’s about when and how quickly.”
Alchemy said AgentCard is available immediately at agentcard.ai for developers, consumers and businesses. Alchemy integrated AgentCard with Visa Intelligent Commerce in June.