Mastercard
Mastercard is a global payment network that connects card issuers, merchants and the financial institutions that process their payments. Mastercard provides payment technology and services that help customers accept payments, protect transactions and manage fraud risk. The network routes payment requests to the cardholder's institution and supports the exchange of transaction records and funds.
Banks issue Mastercard-branded cards and maintain the cardholder's account, while merchants arrange payment acceptance through an acquiring institution. The shared network lets those institutions process purchases even when the customer and merchant use different banks. Fraud-detection and security services help participants assess transactions and protect payment information.
The network behind card payments
Mastercard is a technology company in the global payments industry. Mastercard connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses, and it runs a global network that authorizes, clears and settles card transactions (Mastercard annual report). The card itself comes from a bank: the issuer gives it to the cardholder, and the acquirer signs up the merchant. Merchant acquiring explains the four parties of a card payment. Mastercard also runs a Crypto Partner Program for companies from the crypto industry, and the Cardano Foundation is one of its members.
Agent Pay: the first live payments in Europe
Mastercard Agent Pay is the Mastercard product for payments that an AI agent starts on a person's behalf. Santander and Mastercard reported Europe's first live end-to-end payment executed by an AI agent, run as a pilot within the regulated payment framework of Santander (Mastercard).
Worldline, ING and Mastercard then completed a payment in production. A merchant's AI agent found concert tickets within an ING cardholder's budget in the Netherlands, and the purchase went through only after the cardholder approved it. Worldline processed the payment on its issuing and acquiring platforms, ING authorized it as the issuing bank, and Mastercard ran it across its network (Worldline).
Tokens in place of card numbers
Agent payments build on card tokenization. Mastercard set the goal of tokenizing all e-commerce transactions in Europe by 2030, together with Click to Pay and payment passkeys, so that a shop or a wallet stores a token in place of the card number (Mastercard). A token bound to one merchant or one device is of no use to someone who steals it and tries it elsewhere. What is tokenization in payments? explains how a token is issued and checked.
Consent and authentication for an agent's purchase
Under PSD2, a card payment in the EEA needs strong customer authentication unless an exemption applies. In the Worldline and ING case the cardholder approved the purchase explicitly before it went through. Who confirms an agent's purchase, how and when, is one of the questions issuers and merchants have to settle before agent payments leave the pilot stage. Agentic payments covers the protocols that card networks and AI companies have published, and strong customer authentication the exemptions that apply today.
Upcoming payments events in Europe
Mastercard at events Finance Loop covers
Mastercard speaks at Capital & Code, a conference in Frankfurt on stablecoins, tokenized funds and payments where Finance Loop is a media partner. The Capital & Code panel on the future of payments brings together Mastercard, AllUnity, Worldline and PayPal, and payments started by AI agents are among the topics.
Payments & Digital Money
Risk & Compliance
What is Mastercard Agent Pay?
Agent Pay is the Mastercard product for payments that an AI agent starts for a cardholder. The payment runs over the Mastercard network with Mastercard authentication and authorization checks, and the issuing bank authorizes it as it would any other card payment.
Has an AI agent already paid with Mastercard in Europe?
Yes, Santander ran a live payment executed by an AI agent as a pilot, and Worldline, ING and Mastercard completed a payment in production with a merchant in the Netherlands, after the cardholder had approved the purchase.
Does Visa have a comparable program?
Yes, Visa tests payments by AI agents under the name Visa Intelligent Commerce, with banks in Europe. Visa in stablecoins, AI payments and card tokens describes how it works.
Agent payments and cards
Companies and conferences
Mastercard and Finance Loop
Finance Loop is a media partner of Capital & Code in Frankfurt, where Mastercard speaks on the future of payments and on payments started by AI agents. Agentic payments and card tokenization belong to the Finance Loop Payments & Digital Money track.
Marketing and business development teams explaining agentic payments can ask Finance Loop about relevant professional discussions on authentication and card tokenization. A brief for payments partnerships should connect a concrete payment question with the institutional relationships your company wants to develop.
Finance Loop is a European professional network for emerging technologies in finance, with Central Europe as the current regional focus. Finance Loop helps members build skills and professional relationships across these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.