Google has announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open standard designed to enable secure transactions initiated by artificial intelligence agents across different platforms. The protocol addresses growing concerns about how AI systems can safely conduct financial transactions on behalf of users without direct human oversight.
The initiative brings together more than 60 organizations from the payments and technology sectors, including ANT International, American Express, Coinbase, Mastercard, PayPal and Salesforce. AP2 functions as an extension to existing protocols like Agent2Agent and Model Context Protocol, creating a framework that works across various payment methods from traditional cards to cryptocurrency.
The protocol establishes trust using what Google calls “Mandates” – digital contracts signed using verifiable credentials that serve as proof of user authorization. These work in two scenarios: real-time purchases where users approve specific items, and delegated tasks where users pre-authorize agents to make purchases under defined conditions.
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