Mastercard and Alchemy launched AgentCard 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 launch concerns controlled agentic commerce rather than unrestricted access to a card account.
The Wall Street Journal independently reported Mastercard’s agreement with Alchemy 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. That structure is intended to reduce the risk of an agent using payment details outside its authorised task.
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. These controls do not eliminate fraud or liability questions, and their effectiveness will depend on how merchants, agents and issuers implement them.
AGENTIC COMMERCE STILL FACES TRUST QUESTIONS
Payment networks are developing ways to distinguish legitimate software agents from unauthorised automated activity. AgentCard gives Mastercard and Alchemy a method for recording user intent and applying familiar card controls. The Wall Street Journal noted that trust, fraud and liability remain unresolved concerns as agentic shopping develops.
The next milestones will be merchant adoption, transaction volumes and any disclosed fraud or dispute experience. Issuer participation and the range of supported agents will also determine the service’s reach. Those operational results will show whether tokenisation and controls are sufficient for wider use.