Mastercard Opens Agent Pay for Machines to Early Access

Oct 20, 2026
Agent Pay for Machines lets autonomous AI agents purchase digital services while operating within approved budgets and spending permissions.

Mastercard launches early access to Agent Pay for Machines, a tool that lets autonomous AI agents purchase digital services, according to PYMNTS. The tool connects the x402 open payment protocol with Mastercard's network.

Agents can find providers, submit a spending plan for approval and pay only for the services they use. The system is designed to remove the need for separate accounts, API keys, prepaid credits and invoices while keeping purchases within approved budgets and permissions.

Mastercard will demonstrate the tool at Cloudflare Connect using a marketing campaign scenario. In the example, an agent completes nine payments to two merchants under one approved budget.

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