Google has announced the launch of Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open protocol developed in collaboration with payments and technology companies for initiating and transacting agent-led payments across platforms.
Google’s new protocol can be utilised as an extension of the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Based on industry rules and standards, it creates a payment-agnostic framework for users, merchants, and payment providers to transact more efficiently across all types of payment methods.
Google has been working with a diverse group of over 60 organisations to support the advancement of agentic payments. Among them, the company mentions Adyen, American Express, Ant International, Coinbase, Etsy, Forter, Intuit, JCB, Mastercard, Mysten Labs, PayPal, Revolut, Salesforce, ServiceNow, UnionPay International, Worldpay, and more.
How will the protocol help?
Currently, AI agents can transact on behalf of users, which develops a need to establish a common foundation to authenticate, validate, and convey an agent’s authority to transact. Even if nowadays payment systems generally assume a human is directly clicking buy on a trusted surface, the increase in autonomous agents and their ability to commence a payment breaks this assumption and raises questions that AP2 focuses on addressing. Google underlines:
- Authorisation: Making sure that a user provided an agent with the specific authority to make a purchase;
- Authenticity: Allowing a merchant to be sure that an agent’s request accurately reflects the user’s intent;
- Accountability: determining accountability if a fraudulent transaction happens.
As an open, shared protocol, AP2 offers a common language for secure, compliant transactions between agents and merchants, supporting the prevention of a fragmented ecosystem. The protocol also facilitates different payment types, including credit and debit cards, stablecoins, and real-time bank transfers. Through this, Google aims to ensure a consistent and scalable experience for users and merchants while equipping financial institutions with the clarity they require to manage risk.
AP2’s capabilities
AP2 provides trust by leveraging Mandates, tamper-proof, cryptographically signed digital contracts that serve as verifiable proof of a user’s instructions. These mandates are signed by verifiable credentials (VCs) and serve as the foundational evidence for transactions. Additionally, they address two ways a user will shop with a agent, including real-time purchases and delegated tasks.
AP2’s flexible design offers a foundation to assist both simple and new commercial models. For example, Intent Mandates can optimise shopping, personalise offers, and coordinate tasks.
Moreover, to further support and accelerate the Web3 ecosystem, Google partnered with Coinbase, Ethereum Foundation, MetaMask, and other organisations to extend the core constructs of AP2, rolling out the A2A x402 extension, a production-ready solution for agent-based crypto payments.
Google underlines its commitment to continuing to evolve this protocol in an open, collaborative process, including via standards bodies. The company also invited the entire payments and technology community to support its expansion plans.
