AI Takes Over Your Cart: Mastercard & Visa’s ‘Auto-Buy’ Tools Are Here

Visa’s AI Shops Like a Pro, But Will It Max Out Your Card?

In a transformative leap for digital commerce, Mastercard and Visa have unveiled rival AI-powered payment systems, signaling a shift toward intelligent, self-sufficient shopping experiences.

While both aim to integrate AI agents into consumer transactions, their approaches diverge in security and functionality, setting the stage for a new era of agentic commerce.

Mastercard’s Agent Pay: Security Meets Autonomy

Mastercard’s Agent Pay leverages advanced tokenization, replacing card details with unique, merchant-specific tokens to enable AI agents to autonomously discover, negotiate, and purchase goods aligned with user preferences.

Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s Global Partnerships Co-President, emphasizes its foundation in “trust and transparency,” allowing AI to execute tasks from grocery orders to event planning while adhering to user-set boundaries. Key features include:

• Secure Tokenization: Protects payment data, even in AI-mediated transactions.

• Consumer Controls: Users define spending limits and approve agent registrations.

• Fraud Monitoring: Real-time oversight using Mastercard’s cybersecurity tools.

Visa’s Intelligent Commerce: Streamlining AI Access

Visa’s offering enables AI platforms like ChatGPT to transact via stored credentials through “delegated authorization.” While simpler, it lacks Mastercard’s layered security, focusing instead on seamless integration with existing AI models.

The Agentic Commerce Landscape

Both systems underscore a broader industry pivot from passive AI assistants to proactive agents capable of end-to-end purchasing. Mastercard envisions AI handling complex workflows—booking travel, managing logistics—while dynamically selecting payment methods. Visa targets routine buys, emphasizing speed and convenience.

Future Implications

As AI agents gain sophistication, payment networks are repositioning as essential infrastructure for machine-mediated commerce. Haymond predicts Agent Pay will evolve from niche to norm, driven by partnerships with AI platforms and consumer demand for personalized, secure experiences. “This isn’t just automation—it’s a new commerce reality,” she asserts, hinting at upcoming expansions.

With tokenization and stringent controls, Mastercard aims to mitigate risks in an era where AI acts independently. Meanwhile, Visa’s approach prioritizes accessibility, betting on widespread AI adoption. Together, they herald a future where commerce is invisible, intelligent, and intertwined with AI’s growing capabilities.

Agents Everywhere, Safety Nowhere: The Identity Disaster Silicon Valley Ignored

As AI agents proliferate, digital identity firms face dual challenges: distinguishing them from humans and defining their ownership and permissions. With MarketsandMarkets projecting the AI agent market to soar from 5.25 billion in 2024 to 52.62 billion by 2030, companies like ZeroBiometrics, Frontegg, and Anetac are pioneering solutions to secure this rapidly evolving landscape.

ZeroBiometrics introduces a biometric cryptographic system linking AI agents to human identities via certificate chains. This template-free approach issues root certificates to individuals after real-time biometric verification, enabling them to delegate limited, revocable credentials to AI agents.

CEO Alfred Chan emphasizes traceability: “Every AI action ties back to an authenticated person who authorized and can revoke it.” The solution supports transaction caps, time limits, and integration with PKI or blockchain, targeting sectors like finance and healthcare.

Frontegg addresses the absence of AI identity standards with a developer-focused platform, Frontegg.ai. It offers multi-tenant onboarding, policy controls, and token security, eliminating the need for custom authentication workflows. CTO Aviad Mizrachi notes, “Without identity infrastructure, AI agents can’t scale or commercialize,” citing their own AI security agent, Dorian, as a test case.

Anetac’s new software enhances its Identity Vulnerability Management Platform by providing real-time visibility into human and non-human identities across systems. Human Link Pro detects anomalies like privilege escalations, dormant accounts, and compromised credentials, already deployed in finance and healthcare. Demonstrated at RSA 2025, it aims to close gaps that traditional tools miss.

Okta’s Fei Liu highlights a strategic void: most organizations lack frameworks to manage AI agents, which require unique access to data and workflows. As AI’s role expands, these innovations underscore the urgency for robust identity governance, blending biometric accountability, developer-friendly tools, and comprehensive visibility to secure the agent-driven future.

From Stablecoins to AI Overlords: Tether’s Bold Bid to Rule the Agent Economy

Tether, the powerhouse behind the USDT stablecoin, is stepping into artificial intelligence with Tether AI, a groundbreaking open-source platform designed to operate across any hardware or device.

CEO Paolo Ardoino announced the project, which aims to establish a decentralized, peer-to-peer network of AI agents capable of autonomous collaboration, bypassing centralized control or API dependencies.

Key Features of Tether AI

• Decentralized Infrastructure: AI agents interact directly in a distributed network, growing more robust as more devices join.

• Crypto Integration: Supports payments via USDT and Bitcoin through the Tether Wallet Development Kit (WDK), embedding cryptocurrencies into the ecosystem.

• Modular Design: Developers can easily expand functionality, fostering innovation in AI applications.

• Partnerships: Integrates with Keet, a P2P app, enhancing decentralized data and payment exchanges.

Strategic Expansion

Tether’s AI push follows its 2023 investment in Germany’s Northern Data (a data center firm), signaling ambitions beyond stablecoins. The move aligns with a vision where AI agents execute real-time crypto transactions and data analysis, potentially revolutionizing finance and tech.

Implications and Opportunities

• Autonomous Networks: Billions of AI agents could autonomously manage tasks, from financial transactions to predictive analytics.

• Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Seamless crypto payments might streamline DeFi protocols and smart contracts.

• Open-Source Collaboration: Global developer input could accelerate AI advancements while maintaining transparency.

While promising, questions linger about scalability, security, and regulatory hurdles. Can decentralized AI networks achieve mainstream adoption? How will interoperability between diverse AI systems be managed?

Tether’s bold pivot underscores a future where crypto and AI converge, redefining both industries. As Ardoino envisions, this could be the dawn of an "unstoppable" AI-driven economy—but its success hinges on overcoming technical and trust barriers.

What’s your take? Could decentralized AI networks powered by crypto become the backbone of tomorrow’s digital economy?

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