Ant International, Visa, and Mastercard Partner on 'Know-Your-Agent' Standard for AI Payments
Ant International, Visa, and Mastercard have partnered to develop the 'Know-Your-Agent' (KYA) interoperability framework to establish unified identity verification standards for AI agent transactions. Developed under the Monetary Authority of Singapore's BuildFin.ai platform, the initiative aligns with predictions that AI agents will handle $3 trillion to $5 trillion in global consumer transactions by 2030. As autonomous AI agents handle financial transactions, establishing standardized identity and risk management is essential to prevent fraud and trade errors. By unifying protocols across card networks and digital wallet ecosystems, an AI agent verified on one system can transact seamlessly across others without redundant registrations. The KYA framework is built on three core pillars: cross-network operator traceability, shared security and behavioral authentication requirements, and continuous transaction monitoring. It aims to harmonize existing proprietary protocols, including Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard's Verifiable Intent, and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol.
## BACKGROUND
Analogous to 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) regulations in traditional banking, 'Know Your Agent' (KYA) is an emerging security framework designed to verify the identity, authorization, and boundaries of autonomous AI agents. As AI agents increasingly automate purchasing decisions, financial institutions require common interoperability standards to monitor agent transactions across heterogeneous payment networks.