Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), developed with more than 60 organisations including Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Adyen, Coinbase, Revolut and Worldpay. AP2 uses cryptographically signed 'mandates' as verifiable proof of what a user authorised an agent to buy, and supports cards, real-time bank transfers and stablecoins.
Why it matters
Agent-initiated payments break the assumption that a human clicks 'pay', so authorisation, liability and fraud rules depend on proof-of-intent standards like this one.
Line of Thought
Follow this story
Pick any item to keep going. Your path builds up above as a line you can share.
Directly linked
Connections our researchers recorded
- DevelopmentVisa expands Agentic Ready agent-payment testing to Asia Pacific and Latin America29 Apr 2026 · Launch · INTLLed to: Network-run rollout follows the open agent-payment protocols launched in 2025
What led here
Earlier developments on the same thread
- DevelopmentPentagon AI office awards Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI up to $200m each14 Jul 2025 · Procurement · US
- DevelopmentSEC and SDNY charge Nate founder over claims his shopping app ran on AI9 Apr 2025 · Enforcement or ruling · US
- DevelopmentGoogle unveils Gemini-based 'AI co-scientist' with lab-validated hypotheses19 Feb 2025 · Research · US, GB
What happened next
Later developments on the same thread
- DevelopmentHKMA picks 27 use cases from 20 banks for second GenAI sandbox cohort15 Oct 2025 · Programme · HK
- DevelopmentGoogle launches Gemini 3 Pro, shipping it in Search on day one18 Nov 2025 · Model release · US
- DevelopmentEmerald AI, Google and NVIDIA form alliance for grid-flexible AI data centres16 Sep 2026 · Launch · US
Same story elsewhere
What other countries and bodies did on this
- DevelopmentFCA names Barclays, UBS, Experian and others in second AI Live Testing cohort21 Apr 2026 · Programme · GB
- DevelopmentUS Treasury releases AI lexicon and finance-specific AI risk framework19 Feb 2026 · Policy · US
- DevelopmentMAS consults on AI risk management guidelines for all financial institutions13 Nov 2025 · Rule change · SG
- DevelopmentHegseth orders an 'AI-first' military and 'any lawful use' terms for AI contracts12 Jan 2026 · Policy · US
Threads by topic: AI agents Standards and codes Fraud and scams