Mastercard has announced the completion of a pilot delivering its first authenticated agentic transactions in Malaysia, conducted in partnership with CIMB Group Holdings Berhad, Malayan Banking Berhad, and RHB Banking Group using Mastercard Agent Pay.
The pilot was carried out in a controlled environment, with transactions initiated by AI agents. The inaugural test case involved an AI agent booking a ride from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to KL Sentral through hoppa, a global mobility provider. The booking was facilitated by CardInfoLink's AI agent, which connects to hoppa's taxi and airport limousine network. Transactions used tokenized credentials authenticated with Mastercard Payment Passkeys to ensure customer verification and data protection.
Infrastructure and road to commercial deployment
Each transaction under Mastercard Agent Pay uses a Mastercard Agentic Token, uniquely issued per agent. Consumer consent is explicitly captured, and purchase confirmation is secured via Mastercard Payment Passkeys. The pilot confirmed both the technical and operational feasibility of agentic transactions in Malaysia, though commercial deployment is planned in phases, with issuing banks and partners involved in consumer education ahead of broader rollout.
Mastercard has indicated plans to expand agentic commerce use cases across transportation, travel, entertainment, and retail. As part of its regional strategy, the company is establishing an AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore to drive innovation and governance for AI-led transactions, and is deploying dedicated agentic commerce teams across the Asia Pacific to support financial institutions and merchants.
The Malaysia pilot follows earlier authenticated agentic transactions completed by Mastercard in Australia, New Zealand, and India, forming part of a broader effort to establish scalable infrastructure for agent-initiated payments across the region.
Commenting on the move, Beena Pothen, Country Manager for Malaysia at Mastercard, said the pilot demonstrates how AI can engage in commerce responsibly, with trust, authentication, and transparency embedded directly into AI-driven payment flows.
