--- title: "Mastercard has quietly pulled off a major move that could revolutionize the payment industry." type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/289409252.md" description: "Mastercard launched 'Agent Pay for Machines' (AP4M), a payment system enabling AI agents to autonomously execute high-frequency, micro-amount transactions without human intervention. Utilizing the Polygon blockchain for authorization records and stablecoins like USDC for settlement, AP4M aims to revolutionize machine-to-machine commerce. Supported by major tech firms, this initiative integrates traditional clearing networks with crypto infrastructure to facilitate programmable compliance and automated payments." datetime: "2026-06-11T04:03:17.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/289409252.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289409252.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/289409252.md) --- # Mastercard has quietly pulled off a major move that could revolutionize the payment industry. Mastercard recently did something quite imaginative. Last night, they officially launched a payment system called Agent Pay for Machines, or AP4M for short, specifically for AI agents. Simply put, it allows AI programs to pay and receive money independently, without requiring human confirmation. Why is this necessary? Because it changes the way AI works. Previously, AI only offered suggestions; now it can directly perform tasks. For example, if you own a flower shop and want to create a website, you can tell your AI, "Within a $100 budget, get the domain, hosting, images, and checkout page all set up." Then the AI ​​will automatically negotiate with multiple service providers, place orders, and make payments, each transaction potentially costing only a few cents. This kind of transaction simply can't be done with traditional bank cards; the frequency is too high, the amounts are too small, and it requires repeated human authorization. Mastercard's Chief Product Officer put it quite bluntly: "AP4M will truly make AI business models flourish. The scale, speed, and amount of machine payments are completely different from today's human payments." So what role does cryptocurrency play? First, authorization records are stored on the blockchain. The permissions we set for AI, such as the maximum amount to spend and the types of services it can purchase, will be stored on the Polygon blockchain. Why on the blockchain? Because in the future, there may be more than one system to verify whether AI has overstepped its authority. By placing it on a public ledger, institutions can verify each other, eliminating the need for a centralized institution to endorse it. Mastercard has currently chosen Polygon for its initial deployment. Second, settlement supports stablecoins. Besides bank cards and accounts, this network also allows settlement using stablecoins like USDC, with companies in the crypto space such as Coinbase, Ripple, and Solana participating. A senior vice president of RippleX stated, "Autonomous agents are already settling independently, but only when control follows can institutions feel confident operating. On-chain plus stablecoins enable second-level settlement, programmable compliance, and full-process auditing." The underlying logic of this system is not complex: each agent is issued a verifiable identity (credentialization); companies can set programmatic rules (e.g., no more than $0.50 per transaction); high-frequency trading between agents is facilitated; and finally, cross-channel settlement is achieved. Of course, Mastercard hasn't abandoned its core business either, opening up its global clearing network while embedding cryptography as a trust layer. Currently, over 30 companies have expressed their support, including Adyen, Ant International, Stripe, Cloudflare, and Checkout.com. The significance of this is that traditional payment giants haven't circumvented encryption systems, but rather are using them as a tool to solve real-world problems. High-frequency, micro-amount, automated, and cross-system scenarios are areas traditional channels cannot handle, and encryption can fill these gaps. However, some issues remain: How to prevent abuse of AI authorization boundaries? Who is responsible if an agent makes a mistake? But these don't hinder the judgment of a trend: the future of payment is shifting from requiring "a person to press a confirmation button to make a payment" to "programs automatically making continuous payments according to rules," and Mastercard, as the world's second-largest card organization, is leading the way. ### Related Stocks - [MA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MA.US.md) - [CRCL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CRCL.US.md) - [CRCG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CRCG.US.md) - [CRCA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CRCA.US.md) - [CRCD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CRCD.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) Push Back Against Displacement by AI Agents](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289462158.md) - [Ant International powers new e-wallet in cash-heavy Mexico](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289385394.md) - [Visa unveils AI, stablecoin capabilities to power next generation of commerce](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289448544.md) - [Kraken Adds USDCx Support On Canton As Institutional Stablecoin Rails Expand](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289627838.md) - [UQPAY Integrates with Circle Payments Network to Advance Its Global Account Infrastructure](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289125612.md)