Stripe is rolling out AI-powered tools that let artificial intelligence agents make purchases on consumers’ behalf. [7] Through partnerships with AI developers including Meta and OpenAI, Stripe’s Link digital wallet can authorize transactions initiated by AI shopping assistants. It uses secure, one-time payment tokens rather than exposing consumers’ actual card details. [2, 3, 6]
The move puts Stripe in a race with payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard to build infrastructure for agentic commerce, a market McKinsey estimates could be worth trillions. [7, 17] Stripe’s system still uses those networks, but positions the company as a key intermediary. Visa and Mastercard are developing competing platforms, including Visa Intelligent Commerce and Mastercard Agent Pay, as they vie to shape standards for this new form of e-commerce. [7, 8]