Leveraging Shared Languages

While the core payment settlement process may remain unchanged, new front-end infrastructure for interacting with AI agents is necessary. Efforts like Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) are already pushing in this direction.

AP2 is an open-source framework that facilitates interactions between merchants, consumers, and third parties with agentic AI. It includes mandates designed to ensure the agent accurately follows a user’s instructions.

Several other organizations have launched competing solutions, though none has yet achieved wide adoption. Financial institutions should start assessing which approaches best suit their strategic needs.

Defining Boundaries

The increasing number of nascent agentic commerce platforms can complicate strategies for financial leaders. Issues such as liability in case of errors or fraud also arise. For instance, who is ultimately responsible if a customer authorizes an AI to make a purchase and something goes wrong?

Regulatory bodies like banks might bear the primary responsibility due to their oversight role. While OpenAI emphasizes that merchants own transactions, questions remain about future developments.

Players are trying to set boundaries but uncertainties persist. Advances in generative AI highlight the need for human oversight as models still produce unpredictable outcomes.

These challenges contribute to skepticism about wide-scale agentic commerce adoption. However, given its potential impact on payments, it cannot be ignored. Financial institutions should educate themselves on emerging protocols and their implications across different areas of banking.

Preparing Proactively

Agentic commerce is in early stages but has the potential to significantly reshape payments. Given past experiences with transformative technologies, financial institutions must start planning now.

Executives acknowledge the need for modernization but stress the importance of staying ahead of technological changes. Banks should facilitate these transactions while preserving their products to maintain consumer loyalty.

This nascent area demands careful consideration by banks and boards. It will be a frequent topic in conversations as agentic commerce evolves, whether it becomes mainstream or not.