Visa has announced the launch of its Trusted Agent Protocol. According to the company, this new framework establishes a standardized way for AI agents and merchants to interact safely during every stage of a purchase. This marks a key milestone in what Visa is referring to as the “agentic commerce” era.
The Trusted Agent Protocol has been developed in collaboration with Cloudflare and is designed to help merchants distinguish between legitimate AI shopping agents and malicious bots. It also allows approved agents to share key details such as purchase intent, consumer recognition, and payment data in a secure and verifiable manner.
The protocol is now available via the Visa Developer Center and on GitHub.
“We believe the entire payments ecosystem has a responsibility to ensure sellers can trust AI agents as much as they trust their best customers and networks,” said Jack Forestell, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Visa. “Our new agent protocol enables merchants to securely identify AI agents with intent to buy and provide a seamless, personalized payment experience.”
Cloudflare’s Chief Strategy Officer, Stephanie Cohen, emphasized the shared responsibility of securing AI-driven commerce: “Our work with Visa on the Trusted Agent Protocol is a vital step in building the necessary guardrails for this new ecosystem,” she said.
The protocol introduces agent-specific cryptographic signatures that allow merchants to authenticate AI agents. It includes three main data components:
- Agent Intent: Confirms that an AI agent is authorized and has a genuine purchase or inquiry intent.
- Consumer Recognition: Identifies whether the agent represents a known or returning customer.
- Payment Information: Enables agents to carry encrypted payment credentials for faster and safer checkout experiences.
These elements work together to help merchants manage agent-based interactions without major system overhauls.
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