Tag: Agentic Commerce

  • Banks Warn AI Shopping Bots Risk Wrong Purchases and Payment Data Exposure

    Banks Warn AI Shopping Bots Risk Wrong Purchases and Payment Data Exposure

    Major banks are sounding the alarm over the rise of AI shopping assistants that can search for products and even complete purchases on behalf of consumers. The concerns range from incorrect purchases and scams to exposure of payment data and weaker consumer protections, prompting calls for clearer standards around AI-driven commerce.

    AI Agents Could Make Purchases on Your Behalf

    The technology, often described as “agentic commerce,” allows an AI system to act on a shopper’s instructions rather than simply providing recommendations. Depending on the design, an agent could search for a product, select an option, and potentially complete the transaction. A group including NatWest, Bank of America, ING, Capital One, ASB Bank, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia has raised concerns about scams, fraud, and misuse of financial data.

    The warning comes as technology companies including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta develop AI agents capable of assisting with or carrying out shopping tasks. The banks said adoption is outpacing existing industry standards and consumer protections.

    UK retailer John Lewis reported that searches originating from AI agents rose to 2.5% this year, up from 0.3% a year earlier, signaling rapid growth in AI-driven shopping.

    Card Details and Payment Risks

    Financial information is another major concern. The banking group highlighted situations in which AI agents could request customers’ card details and enter them directly into websites. There are also concerns that an AI agent could steer a shopper toward payment methods that provide weaker fraud or purchase protections. If a transaction goes wrong, consumers may not know whether the retailer, payment provider, or AI service is responsible.

    Banks Seek Clearer AI Commerce Rules

    The participating banks plan to discuss a set of proposals with policymakers. These include requiring businesses to disclose when an AI agent is involved in a transaction and providing greater transparency about how the technology makes purchasing decisions. The group also called for stronger safeguards around customer data, along with freedom for consumers and merchants to choose which AI-powered commerce services they use. Interoperability between different AI shopping systems was another principle included in the framework.

    As AI moves from recommending products to acting on shoppers’ behalf, the debate increasingly shifts toward who controls these transactions and who takes responsibility when something goes wrong.

  • Retail Revolution: 7 Ways AI Will Transform Shopping by 2026

    Retail Revolution: 7 Ways AI Will Transform Shopping by 2026

    The Future of Retail Is Intelligent

    Artificial intelligence is quickly moving from the background to the center of retail. By 2026, AI will shape how shoppers discover, evaluate, and buy products both online and in stores. Here are seven major ways AI is changing shopping.

    1. AI Shopping Agents Are Reinventing Search

    Shoppers no longer need to wade through endless search results. Instead, they can describe what they need in plain language, and AI agents will compare products, prices, reviews, and availability—and even help complete the purchase.

    2. Shopping Becomes Deeply Personal

    AI studies browsing history, past orders, stated preferences, and real-time activity to recommend products that truly fit each customer. Offers and bundles now adjust per shopper, making every visit feel unique.

    3. Virtual Try-Ons Build Buyer Confidence

    Augmented reality and AI allow shoppers to see how clothes, glasses, makeup, and other products will look before they buy. This makes online shopping more interactive and reduces the fear of buying the wrong item.

    4. AI Predicts What Stores Need

    Smart inventory systems process sales data, seasons, weather, promotions, and local demand to forecast what each store will need. Retailers can avoid empty shelves and minimize costly excess stock.

    5. Pricing Becomes Dynamic in Real Time

    AI tracks demand, competitor pricing, inventory, and market signals to adjust prices and promotions on the fly. That helps retailers stay competitive while offering deals that matter to shoppers.

    6. Smart Stores Bring AI into the Physical World

    Computer vision, smart carts, RFID tags, and mobile checkout are upgrading brick-and-mortar locations. These tools improve product discovery, track inventory, shorten queues, and make store operations smoother.

    7. AI Assistants Act Like Digital Store Staff

    Chatbots and voice assistants answer questions about products, pricing, delivery, returns, and availability in seconds. Shoppers get instant help without waiting for a human representative.

    Beyond Assistance: The Rise of Agentic Commerce

    The next major shift is AI moving from suggestion to action. Shopping agents can search, compare, build carts, and, in some cases, finalize purchases—while also handling tracking and post-purchase support. For retailers, success will depend on strong data, reliable AI tools, and human backup for complex needs. The shopping journey is becoming more automated every day, and the brands that adapt will lead the next era of retail.

  • Cloudflare Unveils Wallets and Digital IDs for AI Agents to Enable Secure Autonomous Commerce

    Cloudflare Unveils Wallets and Digital IDs for AI Agents to Enable Secure Autonomous Commerce

    Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced Cloudflare Wallets and cloudflare.pay, a new suite of tools designed to give AI agents a stable identity and the ability to make purchases online safely within limits set by their human creators. This marks a significant step toward enabling agentic commerce—where software programs autonomously browse, query APIs, and transact on behalf of individuals and businesses.

    As AI agents become a normal part of doing business online, the Internet—built for humans—lacks reliable mechanisms to verify whether an agent is a legitimate assistant or a malicious actor. Traditional bot detection tools, designed for search crawlers, are inadequate for agents that conduct transactions. Cloudflare’s solution addresses this by providing a verifiable link between each agent and its human or organizational owner, establishing trust and accountability at every step.

    “The Internet is shifting from human-driven browsing to agent-driven commerce, and the infrastructure needs to keep up,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “When an agent shows up at your door, you need to know who sent it. Cloudflare can give agents a face—a link to the human or organization that owns them—so that trust, accountability, and real commerce can follow. It’s the identity and payment infrastructure the agentic web needs to function.”

    Cloudflare Wallets and cloudflare.pay work together to solve the identity and payment challenge. Each Cloudflare account will receive a unique web address serving as a stable ID, which users can extend to specific agents. This allows any receiving business to see exactly who authorized the agent. Additionally, a Cloudflare “Account Wallet” acts as a central balance for receiving, holding, and managing stablecoins. Users can then assign “Virtual Wallets” to individual agents, each with built-in guardrails such as spending caps, approved merchant lists, and maximum transaction sizes. Combined with the Monetization Gateway, these tools complete the two-sided agentic payment market.

    Cloudflare Wallet handle reservation opens today. Full wallet access, including onramping and offramping funds and the ability to issue Virtual Wallets, will be available in the coming months. Users can claim a handle at cloudflare.pay and learn more on the Cloudflare blog.

  • Checkout.com Adopts Microsoft Azure to Fuel AI-Powered Payments and Agentic Commerce

    Checkout.com Adopts Microsoft Azure to Fuel AI-Powered Payments and Agentic Commerce

    Checkout.com has announced a multi-year agreement with Microsoft to migrate its payment infrastructure to Azure cloud services, positioning both companies for the rise of agentic commerce—where AI agents complete transactions without human intervention.

    Azure Infrastructure for AI-Driven Payments

    The payments provider will leverage Azure’s cloud infrastructure to process digital payments for enterprise merchants including eBay, ASOS, Vinted, Pinterest, and Klarna. Central to the migration is Azure Payment HSM, which uses Thales payShield 10K hardware security modules meeting PCI DSS, PCI 3DS, and PCI PIN certifications, along with FIPS 140-2 Level 3 security.

    Mariano Albera, CTO of Checkout.com, stated: “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Microsoft and adopt Azure, bringing this mission-critical platform into our technology stack. The Azure platform has leading machine learning capabilities—and Microsoft has long been a pioneer of embedding trust into every layer of cloud innovation.”

    Machine Learning Optimizes Transaction Acceptance

    Checkout.com already uses machine learning to improve transaction acceptance rates in real time. Its Intelligent Acceptance feature analyzes payment data, adjusts strategies, and applies successful optimizations across all merchants, creating network effects that reduce declines and processing costs. Azure’s ML capabilities will integrate with this existing AI engine, and Azure’s confidential computing solutions enhance fraud prevention and risk assessment.

    Preparing for Agentic Commerce

    The partnership aims to prepare for a future where AI systems search products, compare options, and complete purchases based on user preferences without human oversight. This requires payment infrastructure capable of handling high volumes of machine-initiated transactions with minimal latency and robust security.

    Tyler Pichach, Global Head of Payments at Microsoft Financial Services, commented: “The payments industry is a constant source of AI-powered innovation and by collaborating with Microsoft, Checkout.com will be able to further enhance payment performance for merchants around the world.”

    Albera added: “Our combined commitment to relentless innovation sets merchants up for success, enabling them to explore and embrace the agentic commerce models where AI agents search and shop on behalf of consumers.”