Mastercard has completed Australia’s first authenticated agentic transactions using a Commonwealth Bank debit card and Westpac credit card. (Source: Getty\/Mastercard) <\/p>\n
Australians are one step closer to the option of having their online shopping be fully automated. Global payments giant Mastercard has announced it will expand its agentic payments technology<\/a> to Australia.<\/p>\n The payments company<\/a> has completed Australia\u2019s first authenticated agentic transactions, which are transactions completed by an ‘AI agent’, using Commonwealth Bank<\/a> and Westpac<\/a> cards. Mastercard\u2019s \u2018Agent Pay\u2019 technology<\/a>, which was launched in the US last year, allows shoppers to ask an AI agent to search, find and buy items for them.<\/p>\n Mastercard Australasia\u2019s head of customer solutions centre Surin Fernando told Yahoo Finance customers were already using AI agents<\/a> and it was expected to become the norm in the future<\/a>.<\/p>\n RELATED<\/p>\n \u201cOften retailers don\u2019t know it\u2019s an agent making the transaction. They decline the transaction, they think it might be a bot, they think it could be fraud. We see that often in fashion retail and things like ticketing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Agent Pay framework means the bank processing the transaction, the payment provider and the retailer are all aware that it is an AI agent making the transaction, so it\u2019s less likely to get knocked back.<\/p>\n Mastercard used a Commonwealth Bank debit card to purchase movie tickets from Event Cinemas and a Westpac credit card to book accommodation at Thredbo. Both transactions were done using a large language model dubbed Matilda.<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com<\/a><\/p>\n Fellow payments giant Visa, which NAB and ANZ has partnered with, also announced a similar technology last year it has called Intelligence Commerce<\/a>. It has not yet rolled out in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cSoon people will have AI agents browse, select, purchase and manage on their behalf,\u201d Visa\u2019s chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell said at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cThese agents will need to be trusted with payments, not only by users, but by banks and sellers as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Agentic commerce is where you make a purchase, whether that\u2019s a new item of clothing, a flight or a hotel, using an AI chatbot like ChatGPT<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can get the AI chatbot to find and compare options, and complete the purchase within the chat. They act like your own personal shopper and the idea is that it will save a lot of time.<\/p>\n Research from PayPal last year found 48 per cent of Aussies had already used AI assistants for online shopping, while 78 per cent expected it would become a mainstream part of online shopping.<\/p>\n Over in the US, ChatGPT launched Instant Checkout<\/a> last year, which allows users to purchase products directly through the platform.<\/p>\n McKinsey expects agentic commerce could \u201cradically remake the entire shopping experience\u201d and has estimated it could be worth as much as $5 trillion globally in business-to-customer goods trade by 2030.<\/p>\n Mastercard\u2019s Agent Pay is the framework that enables agentic transactions to be fully recognised and authenticated.<\/p>\n The idea is you would go to your preferred AI agent and ask them to complete a specific buying task within set parameters.<\/p>\n For example, that could be buying tickets for a particular movie on a specific date, or buying flights to Tokyo when they drop under a certain price, or getting Lady Gaga tickets as soon as they are released.<\/p>\n Eventually, Fernando said you\u2019d be able to see these pending transactions in your banking app as well.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of those intentions to buy, if they\u2019re pending, and from which agent will appear in your bank account very clearly. All of the ones that are completed will equally show as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt creates incredibly different visibility that we\u2019ve never seen before in shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernando said customers would need to authenticate transactions before they can be made. This would be done through biometric confirmation, so your Face ID or fingerprint, you essentially still have the final say.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s authenticated, then there\u2019s a level of comfort and confidence because the customer\u2019s actually consented to that,\u201d Fernando said.<\/p>\n Mastercard\u2019s payments also use Agentic Tokens to protect user credentials and tie each transaction to a specific authorised AI agent.<\/p>\n Fernando claimed you wouldn’t be at risk of an AI agent \u201cgoing rogue\u201d because you would have to clearly articulate what you want to buy, authenticate this, and then your instructions and the actual basket would need to match up.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the safety and security of what you\u2019d expect from Mastercard takes place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cArguably, there\u2019s a lot of transactions that take place today in lots of instances where you are not authenticating the transactions and the retailer doesn\u2019t know your order intention. Think about even a recurring transaction or a direct debit on your card.\u201d<\/p>\n Mastercard said Aussie consumers can expect the technology to roll out in the coming months.<\/p>\n Two of Australia\u2019s Big Four banks<\/a> have thrown their support behind the technology.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Australians explore more AI-powered ways to shop and pay, we\u2019re proud to be participating in early, controlled trials with Mastercard to help shape secure and transparent agentic payment standards across the ecosystem,\u201d CBA\u2019s executive general manager everyday banking Monica Wegner said.<\/p>\n \u201cPayments play an important role in our customers\u2019 everyday lives, and giving our customers seamless, secure and simple ways to pay is a priority for us. Agent Pay will make those moments quicker and easier for our customers,\u201d Westpac chief executive of consumer Carolyn McCann said.<\/p>\n Fernando said more retailers needed to be onboarded, but noted retailers across different sectors, including supermarkets, ticketing, travel and fashion were in discussions.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d expect to see some of these experiences come to life very, very soon,” he said.<\/p>\n “When I say very soon, I mean possibly in the next coming months.”<\/p>\n Get the latest Yahoo Finance news – follow us on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here’s how it looked when an AI agent was asked to buy movie tickets using a CBA debit card. (Source: Mastercard) <\/p>\n
You need to confirm the payment through your passkey, which could be your FaceID or fingerprint. (Source: Mastercard) <\/p>\n