Mastercard has opened its Agent Pay for Machines system to developer testing, enabling AI agents to purchase services and make payments within a set budget.
According to The Block, the payments giant has made the first APIs for buyers and sellers, developer tools, and a testing environment available through early access. Announced in June, the system aims to support card, bank account, and stablecoin payments, along with spending controls. The project is still in the pilot phase and is not yet commercially available.
AI agent purchased research and images
In a demonstration at Cloudflare Connect, marketing agency Hype tasked an AI agent with preparing a campaign for a protein bar launch. Within a budget approved by the agency, the agent purchased social media research from AIsa and obtained eight campaign images through Cloudflare AI Gateway.
A total of nine payments were made to the two providers. The demonstration therefore showed AI not only generating content, but also purchasing the paid services it needed to complete the task.
How did Coinbase and Base fit into the payment process?
The payments used the x402 protocol, developed by Coinbase. The system allows websites and applications to request payments from software and provide services in return. In the demonstration, when a seller requested payment, the agent presented a signed payment credential; after verifying it, the seller delivered the service.
According to Mastercard, these credentials can be aggregated and collected later. This means that each small payment does not need to be settled separately.
Coinbase Developer Platform provided the wallet infrastructure used to fund the agent in the Hype pilot, while on-chain transactions were settled on the Base network. BVNK, which Mastercard acquired in August, also served as the agent’s wallet, enabling payments and settlement in fiat currency or stablecoins through the company’s Global Money Platform infrastructure. Sellers can receive payments in their preferred currency, token, or payment channel.
Mastercard is now asking developers to try the system and provide feedback on features they would like to see added. Early access opens the way for more developers to test the pilot.
Not investment advice.