Visa, Mastercard, and Ant International are collaborating to develop a unified Know Your Agent (KYA) framework. This initiative aims to streamline the onboarding and identification of AI agents across digital payment networks, marketplaces, and agent platforms.
The companies currently maintain individual protocols: Visa uses the Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard relies on Verifiable Intent, and Ant International operates the Agentic Mobile Protocol. The partners plan to establish common principles to ensure interoperability.
The framework is designed to reduce integration complexity and costs for new agentic services. By creating shared trust signals, the initiative seeks to improve transaction security and risk management while minimizing redundant identity verification processes.
Industry projections suggest that AI agents could manage between $3 trillion and $5 trillion in global consumer commerce by 2030. This shift highlights the need for standardized architectures to verify agent identities and ensure secure execution.
A March report from PYMNTS Intelligence indicates that nearly 90% of enterprises view bot management as a significant challenge. Outdated digital identity controls currently result in annual losses of nearly $100 billion due to fraud and false declines.
