Visa, Mastercard, Fiserv Join Alliance to Set Rules for AI Agent Payments

Visa, Mastercard, and Fiserv have joined forces with 23 other companies in the Agentic Payments Alliance (APA) to establish common rules for agentic AI commerce. The APA aims to create shared industry standards for how autonomous AI agents manage digital identities, process user loyalty programs, and detect fraud.

The alliance's core goal is to define the nascent industry's governance and frameworks before federal regulators step in. This will help prevent fragmentation and ensure seamless communication between different platforms.

Agentic commerce involves AI agents proactively scouring dozens of sites for products, calculating totals, and handling checkout processes. The market is expected to grow at a 35.7% CAGR from 2026 to 2033, with McKinsey estimating that agentic AI activity could reach $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2030.