Ant International, Visa, and Mastercard launch Know Your Agent framework

Ant International, Visa, and Mastercard have announced a collaboration to develop the ‘Know Your Agent’ (KYA) interoperability framework. This initiative aims to streamline the onboarding and identification of AI agents across various digital wallet ecosystems, card networks, and marketplaces.

The framework focuses on creating shared principles for agentic protocols, including Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent, and Ant International’s Agentic Mobile Protocol. By establishing common trust signals and continuous transaction monitoring, the collaboration seeks to reduce integration complexity and duplicative identity verification efforts in the emerging agentic commerce market.

The model utilizes the Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime (SAFR) framework, which leverages the BuildFin.ai platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to advance risk management and accountability. While the KYA framework addresses the identity layer by ensuring agents are traceable to validated operators or organizations, industry analysis suggests a significant gap remains regarding consumer trust. Reports indicate that a majority of consumers express discomfort with AI making autonomous payment decisions without explicit human approval.