Mastercard has rolled out authenticated agentic transactions across multiple ASEAN markets as part of its regional AI strategy.
The payments group said the capability is now live in Singapore and Malaysia, with additional markets expected to follow.
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In a statement, Mastercard said the rollout shows “the region’s readiness for interoperable AI agents enabling secure, transparent transactions”.
Mastercard partnered with UOB on early region-wide testing. The work drew on the bank’s network across ASEAN to support scalability for future deployments in different markets.
Simultaneously, Mastercard worked with local banks in each country to support local deployments. It said the pilots are intended to support broader regional expansion as more stakeholders join.
Mastercard Southeast Asia division president Safdar Khan said: “The first wave of authenticated agentic transactions across ASEAN shows how quickly the region is embracing secure, AI‑enabled commerce.
“With early pilots now live across multiple markets, Mastercard is proving that AI agents can operate responsibly and transparently, giving consumers confidence that every transaction is authenticated and anchored in verifiable intent.”
Mastercard Agent Pay is designed to support AI-initiated transactions with controls for security and trust. The framework combines tokenised credentials, verifiable intent and end-to-end auditability through Mastercard Agentic Tokens and Payment Passkeys. Mastercard said this is intended to ensure AI-initiated transactions align with consumer authorisation.
The company also outlined its work on Verifiable Intent, which it described as a standards-based approach for agentic commerce.
Co-developed with Google, Verifiable Intent creates a tamper-resistant record of what a user authorised when an AI agent acts on their behalf. Mastercard said the record is intended to be used across the ecosystem by consumers, merchants and issuers.
Meanwhile, Mastercard also plans to open a regional AI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Singapore later this year. The facility will combine an innovation hub, cybersecurity capabilities and AI expertise, and will be the company’s largest innovation space in Asia Pacific.
Last month, Mastercard agreed to acquire stablecoin payments infrastructure provider BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8bn. The company seeks to widen its end-to-end capabilities in digital assets via the transaction.
