The contest to control how AI agents pay

Ongoing4 postsOct 28 to Nov 6

What you need to know

Card networks, processors and startups are competing to define the payment and checkout layer for purchases that agents start. Mastercard is pushing network tokens over one-time virtual cards, Visa is stressing trust and dispute rules, and Adyen has joined Meta and Sierra's Personal Agent Protocol. Middleware startups such as Firmly are betting the protocol fragmentation will last.

Latest developments

Friday November 6, 2026

10:12 am
Firmly raises $15 million to connect merchants to AI agents without new integrations
Squarepoint Capital led the Series A, joined by J.P. Morgan Payments, Mastercard and Samsung Next. No merchant or revenue figures were given.
Our takeMiddleware like Firmly is a bet that the fight among agent protocols, including OpenAI's ACP, Google's UCP and Meta's Personal Agent Protocol, will stay messy for years. For mid-market merchants short on engineering time, one connector is a reasonable way into agents early.
Retail Technology Innovation HubDeals and startupsThe contest to control how AI agents pay

Thursday November 5, 2026

8:35 am
Visa sent 22 AI agents shopping and they completed the job about 57% of the time
Across 330 test runs buying TVs, laptops and hair tools, the best agents hit 82% while the five cheapest models averaged 50%.
Our takeVisa has its own stake in how agent shopping is framed, but the failure patterns still matter: agents often bought the wrong product or never asked about requirements like return windows and compatibility.
FortuneAgentic commerceThe contest to control how AI agents pay

Thursday October 29, 2026

12:49 pm
Mastercard calls one-time virtual cards for AI agents a stopgap it won't support long term
Michael Miebach wants agents to pay with network tokens tied to the shopper's own card, and says a new OpenAI deal includes Agent Pay.
Our takeSingle-use virtual cards can sever an agent's purchase from the shopper's card, issuer and rewards, so tokens that confirm agent authorization keep networks central and, in principle, give merchants a cleaner authorization signal.
PYMNTSPayments and fraudThe contest to control how AI agents pay

Wednesday October 28, 2026

11:12 am
Adyen trims its margin outlook to fund growth and joins Meta's agent protocol
Q3 net revenue rose 23% to €738.1 million. Adyen now expects a 50% EBITDA margin for 2026 and has dropped its medium-term target.
Our takeThe segment split matters more than the margin cut: core digital revenue grew 16%, while unified commerce and platforms grew 29% and 46%.
AdyenPayments and fraudThe contest to control how AI agents pay