[Video interview] Agentic commerce: liability, use cases, and the future of payment costs

Agentic commerce – the use of AI agents to autonomously make purchasing decisions – is poised to reshape the way consumers and merchants interact. But the reality is nuanced: not every transaction benefits from AI intervention. Routine purchases, like everyday groceries or familiar products, don’t require an AI agent. However, when consumers face complex buying decisions – say, selecting a high-end coffee machine with dozens of features – AI agents can handle the discovery process and simplify comparisons.

In this interview, we delve into how agentic commerce could impact traditional payment flows and card acceptance fees. Initially, consumers will continue to pay as usual, but over time, AI agents representing both buyers and sellers will negotiate not only product terms but payment methods. This could shift transactions from card networks to more cost-effective channels such as account-to-account (A2A) transfers or stablecoins, potentially reducing merchant processing costs.

A key challenge in agentic commerce is liability – particularly when an AI agent makes a purchase without explicit consumer authorisation. If an agent assumes budget flexibility that wasn't granted, the current system could leave the merchant responsible for a transaction the consumer never intended. In such cases, the agent has failed to meet the user-defined criteria, raising questions about consent and accountability.

Any deviation from the parameters set by the consumer introduces ambiguity. While networks like Visa have announced intentions to position themselves as intermediaries – verifying whether all criteria were met – they lack access to critical item-level data, such as SKUs. With visibility limited to the total transaction amount and a few metadata fields, they may not be well-positioned to adjudicate disputes or verify agent compliance in real time.

Watch the full video interview below for exclusive insights!

About Andrew Dresner

Andrew Dresner has 30+ years’ experience in the payments industry. Until recently, he was a partner in the McKinsey payments practice where he served Issuers, Acquirers, Networks, Processors and Fintechs. Prior to McKinsey, he was Head of Integrated Payments Strategy at JPMorgan, where he addressed strategy topics across wholesale and retail payments. He was JPM’s point person on the foundation of Zelle, the US P2P utility. Before JPM, he was a partner in the payments practice at Oliver Wyman. Today, Andy writes the “Payments in Full” Substack which publishes a weekly post on a major payment industry topic. He also works part-time for Fifth Third Bank, whose Newline unit is a large US payments processor.