Ant International Teams Up with Visa and Mastercard on AI Payment Trust Framework
On September 10, Ant International announced a partnership with Visa and Mastercard to develop new standards for AI payments. The centerpiece is the Know-Your-Agent (KYA) interoperability framework, designed to identify trusted AI agents across payment ecosystems. The three parties will collaborate through the BuildFin.ai platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Citing a McKinsey forecast, the companies noted that AI agents are expected to handle $3 trillion to $5 trillion in global consumer commerce transactions by 2030. Yang Jiangming, Chief Innovation Officer at Ant International, said that AI agents may “hallucinate,” meaning “we need to make sure people feel safe,” adding that “trust is the foundation of the AI transition.”
The KYA framework is built on three core elements: cross-network operator traceability, shared authentication requirements, and ongoing transaction monitoring. It allows card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms, and online marketplaces to recognize trusted AI agents across different payment ecosystems while maintaining their own approval and risk management processes. Yang explained that if an AI agent is registered with Ant, it does not need to register again with Visa or Mastercard.
The partners have each developed their own protocols—Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard's Verifiable Intent, and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol—and will explore converging toward common principles. Mastercard Chief Digital Officer Pablo Fourez said interoperability among KYA frameworks is critical for scaling agent commerce, while Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships at Visa, said trust must scale alongside AI agents as they play a bigger role in product discovery and purchasing.
More than 50 digital wallets are already cooperating with Ant International, which operates Alipay+. Worldpay data shows that digital wallets accounted for 56% of global e-commerce value and 33% of point-of-sale value in 2025, representing over $13 trillion in consumer spending.
