Mastercard gives AI agents virtual cards, partners with Alchemy
Mastercard announced on September 17 that, in its Agent Pay service, AI agents can shop with virtual cards and spending limits, together with the startup Alchemy. According to the company's product, the bot can buy without approval, while Visa is building a competing tool.
Who is affected and how
- banking professional
- Card-issuing rules need to be worked out for transactions initiated by an agent.
- fintech company
- Card networks are opening their platforms to agents, so it is worth planning integration.
- retail customer
- For a card given to an agent, setting the spending limit is the customer's responsibility.
Sources
- Mastercard Gets In on Agentic Payment Systems of the Futurebarron's · Sep 17, 2026
- Mastercard Gets In on Agentic Payment Systems of the Future <!-- --> - Barron'sbarrons.com · Sep 17, 2026
- 'Mastercard Inks Deal as Payment Giants Brace for New Era of AI Shopping; Visa and American Express also readying their systems for agentic bots that do shopping on behalf of cardholders' - WSJ Exclusivewebull.com.my · Sep 17, 2026
- Mastercard and Visa race to set AI shopping payment standards | Fortunefortune.com · Sep 18, 2026
- AI Shopping Agents: Visa, Mastercard Race on Trust Rulesinferencewire.com · Sep 18, 2026
- Mastercard and Visa race to set AI shopping payment standards - Miami Selectmiamiselect.com · Sep 18, 2026
- Mastercard, Visa race to set standards for AI agent shopping payments — Ava Advisorava.fund · Sep 18, 2026
- Mastercard Is Giving AI Agents Virtual Cards to Handle Your Shoppinggizmodo · Sep 17, 2026
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