Mastercard launches Agent Pay for machine-to-machine AI payments

Mastercard announced on Wednesday the launch of Agent Pay for Machines, a payments platform that lets AI agents and connected devices make autonomous microtransactions using cards, bank accounts and regulated stablecoins.

The platform supports machine-to-machine transactions, including payments worth fractions of a cent, allowing AI systems to buy services and send payments without direct human intervention. It builds on Mastercard’s existing Agent Pay program by enabling real-time payments between AI agents, software platforms and connected machines.

More than 30 companies have joined the effort across payments, crypto infrastructure and cloud services. Participants named by Mastercard include Coinbase, OKX, Polygon, RippleX, Aave Labs, Alchemy, Anchorage Digital, BVNK, MoonPay, Stripe, Cloudflare and the Solana Foundation. Agent Pay for Machines accepts traditional card and bank-account rails as well as regulated stablecoins for settlement.

Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert described the platform as creating “the conditions for a superbloom of AI business models.” Lambert added that machine payments can operate at “very high volumes, very small values, very fast, and at extremely low latency.”

The launch follows a series of Mastercard initiatives in digital-asset payments this year. In March the company launched a Crypto Partner Program with more than 85 firms and later agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion. Mastercard also joined Solana’s enterprise blockchain and expanded a program for settling transactions with regulated stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC and Ripple’s RLUSD.

Companies across the payments and crypto industries are testing or discussing ways for autonomous AI agents to buy services and complete transactions without human involvement, including direct software-agent access to APIs, cloud services, content and other digital goods.

Mastercard noted Agent Pay for Machines is designed to handle the speed and scale of automated interactions while using existing payment rails and regulated settlement options. The company did not disclose commercial launch dates for individual partners or detailed pricing for microtransaction routing and settlement.