Visa, Mastercard, and Ant start on a shared ID check for AI agents
Know-Your-Agent aims to let one trusted agent pay across card and wallet networks. Agents are getting their own KYC.
What happened
Ant International, Mastercard, and Visa announced on September 10, 2026 that they began work on a Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework. It builds on Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent, and Ant’s Agentic Mobile Protocol. The work centers on three ideas: traceability back to the agent’s operator, shared certification, and continuous monitoring. The three will also work through BuildFin.ai, a platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
What it means
Every agent that moves money will need the equivalent of a KYC file. It covers who runs the agent, what it is certified to do, and how it behaves. The networks want one check that works everywhere instead of three. The Visa, BILL, and Billtrust pilot in October applied the same idea to B2B, where a registered agent replaced a portal login.
Continuous monitoring is the new part. A human signatory is checked once at onboarding. An agent will be watched on every transaction.
Why it matters to you
On the AR side, more payments will start from agents. Your acceptance policy needs a view on which agents you trust. On the AP side, any agent you deploy to pay suppliers will need an identity a network recognizes. That identity ties back to your company, so the agent’s mistakes are your company’s mistakes.
What to watch
Watch for the first published version of the Know-Your-Agent framework and its certification rules. Watch what comes out of BuildFin.ai, the platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Watch whether other networks join the three.