Mastercard and SEB pilot AI agent for autonomous payments

In a technological trial conducted in Lithuania, an artificial intelligence agent successfully completed a real-world purchase on behalf of a user. The experiment, carried out by Mastercard and SEB, demonstrated the ability of AI to move beyond simple recommendations to executing full transactions.

Using 'Mastercard Agent Pay' technology and the 'PayOS' infrastructure, the AI agent navigated the 'Priceless.com' platform to select a coffee tasting event, made a reservation, and completed the payment using an SEB debit card. The user only needed to specify their intent, while the AI handled the search, selection, and checkout processes.

While not yet a standard service available to all SEB customers, the trial marks a significant milestone in autonomous commerce, proving that AI can operate within human-defined parameters to finalize financial transactions.