• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, Yesterday

Mastercard is working with Microsoft and other AI companies to give agentic AI agents the ability to shop online and make payments on behalf of consumers. But who owns the data in those chats related to the transactions -- and will it be used to target advertisements?

The company released first-quarter earnings Thursday topping expectations as consumers kept spent despite uncertain economic conditions. It reported $3.41 billion in adjusted net income for the first three months of 2025. I beleive this is the beginning as it begin to use Mastercard Agent Pay that integrates with agentic AI to deliver consumers a smarter, more secure and personalized payments experiences.

Mastercard also introduced Mastercard Agentic Tokens. The same type of tokenization capabilities that power global commerce such as mobile contactless payments, secure card-on-file, and Mastercard Payment Passkeys.

The technology will identify the request and purchase using Mastercard Agent Pay tokens to complete the transaction. The company provided the following example: A 30-year-old female can chat with an AI agent to curate a selection of outfits and accessories from local boutiques and online retailers based on her style, the venue’s ambience, and weather forecasts. Based on her preferences and feedback, the intelligent agent can make the purchase, and recommend the best way to pay, for example using Mastercard One Credential.

The technology will have the ability to identify and validate a customer using Mastercard’s tokenization technology. 

Mastercard also said small companies will have the ability to use AI agents to handle material sourcing, optimize payment terms and manage logistics with an international supplier. From there, the AI agent can complete the cross-border purchase using a Mastercard virtual corporate card token and arrange for cost-effective, expedited delivery.

MediaPost asked Mastercard whether a consumer's request will be stored, who owns the data, and whether it can be used to build an audience segment for targeting and retargeting ads based on specific preferences. The company did not respond. 

Linking agentic agents is not a common procedure, although it is gaining in popularity. Google and Salesforce are developing frameworks and protocols to enable agents from various vendors to interact with one another.

Calling it the "internet of agents," Forrester Research notes that interoperability will become key to using agentic AI for commerce. "Just as standardized protocols fueled the internet’s exponential growth, a shared framework is crucial to actualizing a globally interconnected agentic workforce," wrote Forrester Principal Analysts Leslie Joseph and Rowan Curran in a research note. 

Mastercard will work with Microsoft to integrate Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Copilot Studio, combining it with Mastercard’s payment technology.