Google Cloud has announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open protocol developed with over 60 organizations to enable secure agent-led payments across platforms.

AP2 is designed to let AI agents authenticate and convey authority to transact for users, addressing authorization, authenticity, and accountability in automated payments.

The protocol extends previous frameworks and supports payment types including credit and debit cards, stablecoins, and real-time bank transfers.

Key collaborators include Southeast Asia firms such as Airwallex, Fiuu, Garena, Lazada, Manus, Razer, Shopee, and Zalora, as well as international organizations like Adyen, American Express, Ant International, Coinbase, JCB, Mastercard, MetaMask, PayPal, Trip.com, UnionPay International, Worldpay, among others.

AP2 features digital contracts called “Mandates,” which are cryptographically signed and provide verifiable proof of user instructions, creating tamper-proof records of transactions.

According to Google Cloud, the protocol will support both traditional and emerging payment systems, including Web3 and stablecoins.

Technical specifications and reference implementations for AP2 are available through Google’s public GitHub repository.

🔗 Source: Google Cloud