Nexi Group and Google Cloud have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the development of AI-driven payment infrastructure across Europe.

This collaboration will focus on creating an agentic commerce ecosystem, where AI agents can manage payments based on explicit consumer authorizations. Nexi’s European payment network and acquiring capabilities will be integrated with Google Cloud’s advanced technologies.

Technical Collaboration

The partnership aims to leverage the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). UCP is intended to streamline end-to-end AI commerce processes, while AP2 enhances transaction security through cryptographic mandates and verifiable credentials. Nexi’s commitment to open-source standards will contribute to broader industry interoperability.

The MoU also seeks to enable conversational sales channels, where merchants can capture consumer purchase intent at the point of origin, turning it into seamless AI-facilitated transactions. This represents a move from interaction-based commerce to more autonomous transaction flows driven by consumer intent.

Regulatory compliance remains a priority for both parties. They aim to design a payment infrastructure that aligns with existing European regulatory frameworks while preserving the flexibility needed for AI-driven transactions.

Operational Enhancements

In addition to these consumer-facing initiatives, the partnership will explore how Google Cloud’s AI and data analytics can improve Nexi’s operational processes. This includes enhancing real-time fraud detection, automating compliance procedures, and optimizing merchant onboarding workflows. These improvements are intended to bolster the overall resilience and cost-efficiency of Nexi’s platform.

The collaboration will also investigate ways for Google Cloud to support Nexi in expanding its payment services’ accessibility to independent software vendors (ISVs), a key segment within the European ecommerce mid-market.