In a move that could redefine how consumers shop, Google has launched the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open, industry-backed standard enabling artificial intelligence agents to securely purchase goods and services on users’ behalf, without requiring a human to click “buy.” The protocol, announced Tuesday, is supported by over 60 global heavyweights, including Mastercard, PayPal, American Express, Revolut, Ant International, Salesforce, Coinbase, and Etsy.
Two-Step Approval Keeps Users in Control
Unlike traditional e-commerce, AP2 is engineered for a world where AI agents negotiate, compare, and transact autonomously. To prevent misuse, Google built in a dual-layer authorization system. First, the user issues an “intent mandate”, say, “Find me a weekend getaway under $7,500, including flights and hotels.” The AI agent then scours platforms, negotiates with vendor bots, and proposes options. Only after the user, or a pre-set rule, issues a “cart mandate” does the payment execute. Every step is cryptographically signed, creating a tamper-proof audit trail. With AP2, the artificial intelligence in fintech market gains its first universal infrastructure for secure, scalable, machine-led commerce, turning theoretical automation into auditable, real-world transactions.
Crypto Integration, But UPI Left Out — For Now
In collaboration with Coinbase, MetaMask, and the Ethereum Foundation, Google has also embedded support for the x402 crypto protocol, allowing AI agents to draw from cryptocurrency wallets, a nod to Web3’s growing influence. Yet notably absent from AP2’s initial architecture is integration with India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), despite Google Pay processing 6.54 billion UPI transactions as recently as June 2025. Analysts suggest India’s complex regulatory landscape and the early-stage maturity of AI-driven commerce locally may explain the omission. Use cases currently spotlighted, like spontaneous bike-trip bundles or dynamic hotel-airline packages, remain more aligned with Western retail ecosystems.
Open Source, Industry-Backed, and Built to Scale Google executives Stavan Parikh and Rao Surapaneni emphasized that AP2 is not a proprietary walled garden, but a collaborative foundation. “We invite the entire payments and technology community to build this future with us,” they wrote, noting the full technical specification is now live on GitHub. While rivals like Perplexity and Stripe are developing their own agent-commerce tools, AP2’s coalition of financial titans gives it unmatched scale at launch. As AI agents evolve from assistants to autonomous shoppers, AP2 aims to be the invisible, trustworthy layer ensuring every transaction, whether for a polka-dot tie or a Bali vacation, is authorized, authentic, and accountable.
