The rise of AI agents that can shop and transact autonomously on behalf of consumers is creating a new frontier in digital commerce. In response, EMVCo—the global technical body that manages the EMV® Specifications for card-based payments—has announced it is exploring how its standards can be developed to support and secure these emerging "agentic payments." The initiative aims to build a foundation of trust and interoperability as AI agents become new actors in the payment ecosystem.
EMVCo is working to adapt its global specifications for agentic payments.
Agentic payments involve AI agents initiating transactions without direct consumer involvement.
The goal is to ensure security, trust, and interoperability across the ecosystem.
EMVCo is evaluating its 3-D Secure, Payment Tokenisation, and Secure Remote Commerce specs.
The body is engaging with hundreds of industry stakeholders for collaboration.
This addresses the unique authentication and security challenges of AI-driven transactions.
Agentic commerce is rapidly reshaping the shopping experience by delegating tasks to AI agents that can act on a consumer's behalf. This evolution is driving the need for "agentic payments," where an AI agent can initiate a transaction with a merchant without the consumer's direct, real-time involvement. While this promises greater convenience and personalization, it introduces complex considerations for how these transactions are securely initiated, authenticated, and authorized, requiring a re-evaluation of existing payment security frameworks.
EMVCo's role is to provide the global specifications that enable secure and seamless card-based payments. The organization is now focusing on how its existing suite of specifications—including EMV 3-D Secure (3DS) for authentication, EMV Payment Tokenisation for data security, and EMV Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) for digital checkout—can be enhanced to support this new model. Patrik Smets, EMVCo Executive Committee Chair, commented, “There is now a clear opportunity to collaborate with participants across the industry to extend this experience to support agentic payment solutions.”
Recognizing that no single entity can solve this challenge alone, EMVCo is actively engaging its global network of industry stakeholders. This includes the hundreds of banks, merchants, payment networks, and technology providers that participate as EMVCo Associates and Subscribers. The organization is also liaising with other global technical bodies to identify opportunities for collaboration, ensuring that the development of agentic payment standards is inclusive, robust, and addresses the needs of all participants in the value chain.
The move by EMVCo to formally address agentic payments marks a critical step in preparing the financial infrastructure for the next wave of AI innovation. By proactively working to establish global standards, the industry can avoid fragmentation and ensure that the convenience of AI-driven commerce is built upon a secure, trustworthy, and interoperable foundation.
EMVCo creates and manages EMV Specifications and programmes that enable seamless and secure card-based payments for businesses and consumers worldwide.
EMV Specifications support technologies including EMV Contact Chip, EMV Contactless Chip, EMV Mobile, EMV QR Codes, EMV Secure Remote Commerce (SRC), EMV 3-D Secure (3DS) and EMV Payment Tokenisation and are widely used by the payments industry to develop products and services that deliver trusted and convenient in-store, online and remote card-based payments.
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