Mastercard has launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new payment service tailored for AI agents and machine-driven commerce. According to the company, the system allows automated transactions to be permissioned, orchestrated, and settled across its global network at machine speed, supporting payments via cards, bank accounts, and stablecoins.
How Machine Commerce Differs
Machine-driven payments differ from traditional consumer transactions as they occur automatically in the background. AI agents can execute chains of payments across multiple providers — for example, an agent launching a business website would purchase domains, hosting, and digital services without human intervention. Logistics systems too can automatically pay freight costs, warehouse fees, and monitoring services as shipments move through supply chains.
As these transactions grow, Mastercard notes that payment activity becomes continuous, high-frequency, and low-value, sometimes amounting to fractions of a cent. AP4M was built specifically to handle such microtransactions.
Four Core Functions
The platform operates on four pillars: credentialing, permissioning, transacting, and settlement. Every participating AI agent receives credentials that establish trusted identity across connected ecosystems. Organizations can set spending limits and authorization rules that systems enforce automatically. Once verified, agents can transact across providers. Settlement supports cards, bank accounts, and stablecoins.
Over 30 Partners Onboard
Jorn Lambert, Mastercard's Chief Product Officer, said machine payments could support transactions at volumes, values, and speeds different from today's environment. Mastercard revealed support from more than 30 organizations across payments, blockchain, and technology sectors. Initial participants include Adyen, Ant International, BVNK, Checkout.com, Cloudflare, Coinbase, Getnet by Santander, Global Payments, Lovable, OKX, Stripe, Tempo, Polygon, Ripple, Solana Foundation, MoonPay, Anchorage Digital, Alchemy, Crossmint, and Aave Labs.
AP4M expands Mastercard's Agent Pay initiative launched in 2025, focusing specifically on automated machine-to-machine payments operating continuously within digital commerce environments.