PayPal and Mastercard pilot AI agents for automated online shopping and payments
The two companies are testing a system in which artificial intelligence (AI) can make payments for users. The goal is to let AI agents handle everyday transactions automatically, but within limits set by a human – the account holder.
Right now, most PayPal payments require users to manually confirm transactions.
However, starting in 2026, Mastercard’s Agent Pay platform will be directly integrated into the PayPal wallet. This new feature should allow AI agents to complete routine purchases automatically, such as paying bills or buying recurring items.
Users will be able to connect AI assistants, for example, shopping bots, budgeting helpers, or travel-booking tools, to their PayPal accounts. The AI can then process transactions through Mastercard’s network without repeated manual approval.
The two companies say the integration is designed to give both merchants and consumers more flexibility and lead to faster transactions. According to Michelle Gill, executive vice president at PayPal, the integration gives consumers and merchants “greater trust and control” when using AI tools for transactions.
Mastercard’s Agent Pay platform includes an Agentic Acceptance Framework, which verifies that AI agents operate within the limits set by account holders, such as spending limits.
Mastercard and PayPal are planning to pilot these tools in early 2026, with wider availability later that year.
Cybernews has previously reported that other tech giants, such as Perplexity and ChatGPT, are also looking for ways to simplify buyers' journeys to the checkout when shopping.
Even though the circumstances were different, as the author was looking to buy a purple vest, which is not a recurring product in her cart, the experiment showed that AI chatbots struggled to complete purchases, leaving carts empty.
Just today PayPal announced a partnership with OpenAI to allow ChatGPT users to check out instantly using the payments firm. It will also connect its global merchant network to OpenAI, allowing users to sell within ChatGPT, sending its shares up 14% in premarket trading.
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