AI agents to start spending your money with Visa, Mastercard

An AI assistant that orders your groceries and renews subscriptions on its own might hit the market soon.

Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) want to make sure that payment still runs through their networks when that happens.

This week, the two card giants said they are working with global fintech Ant International to build a shared way to identify and trust AI shopping agents.

For anyone holding the two stocks or considering them, this plan gives a hint on how both companies could grow in the future.

It also raises a fair question. If software does your spending, who makes sure it spends wisely?

What Visa and Mastercard actually agreed to build with Ant

On September 10 , Visa, Mastercard, and Ant International said they would develop a shared Know Your Agent (KYA) framework, according to a joint press release .

A KYA framework is a system that checks whether an AI agent is trusted and authorized before it checks out.

Visa runs Trusted Agent Protocol , Mastercard uses Verifiable Intent , and Ant built Agentic Mobile Protocol .

The aim of the collaboration is to let an agent cleared on one network get recognized across the others.

The companies cited McKinsey research that AI agents could handle $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global consumer commerce by 2030 , CNBC reported.

Ant's chief innovation officer, Jiang-Ming Yang , said interoperable trust between card and wallet networks is "critical" for agentic commerce.

Each network keeps its own approval process, and the companies set no timeline and named no merchant pilots.

How Visa and Mastercard make money from your spending

Visa and Mastercard run the networks that connect your bank, merchant, and payment. They earn a small fee on the volume that flows through each transaction.

Right now, your available time limits how much you spend. You can only browse and compare items during your free time each day.

When software tracks your needs and buys within the rules you set, the number of transactions could increase.

Why the deal fits Visa and Mastercard's security push

Both networks have spent years building fraud protection and identity verification tools.

For Visa, that segment now drives much of its growth .

This new collaboration between the companies fits into that direction.

Visa agreed in August to buy fraud-detection firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion , which was a move CNBC tied to a rise in AI-powered scams.