MASTERCARD has begun rolling out artificial intelligence (AI)-powered “agentic” transactions across select Southeast Asian markets, marking an early step toward AI-initiated payments in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mastercard said the initial deployment covered Singapore and Malaysia, with further expansion planned across Asean.
“The first wave of authenticated agentic transactions across Asean shows how quickly the region is embracing secure, AI-enabled commerce,” Division President for Southeast Asia Safdar Khan said.
“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,” he added.
Mastercard said the system relied on tokenization, verifiable intent and end-to-end auditability to ensure that AI-initiated transactions remain authorized and traceable.
The company has partnered with United Overseas Bank (UOB) and other regional banks for initial testing across Asean markets.
“UOB remains committed to harnessing innovation responsibly to deliver simpler, safer and more seamless customer experiences across the region,” said Jacquelyn Tan, UOB personal financial services group head.
Mastercard also introduced “Agent Pay,” a framework enabling AI-initiated transactions using tokenized credentials alongside a “verifiable intent” system co-developed with Google that records and validates user instructions given to AI agents.
Separately, Mastercard announced plans to establish a regional AI Center of Excellence in Singapore later this year, which said would be its largest innovation hub in Asia-Pacific.
