Visa, Mastercard, and Ant Introduce Interoperable Know-Your-Agent Framework
Visa Inc., Mastercard Incorporated, and Ant International have collaborated to develop an interoperable Know-Your-Agent (KYA) framework. This initiative aims to streamline agent identification and onboarding across card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms, and marketplaces while allowing each network to retain its own verification and risk controls.
Each agent would be linked to a validated operator, cardholder, or business, with shared certification requirements assessing security and behavior. Continuous transaction monitoring would support ongoing risk evaluation as agents become more active across payment ecosystems. This collaboration could help scale agentic commerce by creating common trust signals for AI agents that execute transactions on behalf of consumers.
The KYA framework builds on Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard's Verifiable Intent, and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol. The companies will work through BuildFin.ai to advance common approaches for AI agent verification, accountability, and risk management.