Visa, Mastercard, and Fiserv Join Forces for Agentic Payments

The Agentic Payments Alliance (APA), a coalition of 26 companies and fintech innovators, has welcomed three major payment networks to its ranks. Visa (V -0.29%), Mastercard (MA -0.65%), and Fiserv (FISV +0.38%) have joined the APA, along with other notable members such as Circle (CRCL +7.08%), the Solana Foundation, and Remitly.

The APA's primary goal is to establish industry standards for agentic AI commerce, including digital identity management, user loyalty programs, and fraud detection. By doing so, it aims to proactively define the governance and frameworks of this nascent industry before regulators step in.

Agentic commerce enables AI agents to autonomously scour multiple sites for products, calculate totals, and handle checkout processes with end-user approval. This shift could lead to a 35.7% CAGR from 2026 to 2033, according to Grand View Research, with McKinsey estimating agentic AI activity to reach $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2030.

The APA's formation will promote cross-compatible platforms that can communicate seamlessly with one another, resolving fragmentation in the industry. For Visa and Mastercard, this means maintaining their position as trusted payment networks, while Fiserv will enable its merchants to accept agentic AI payments without infrastructure rebuilds.