Cloudflare Partners with Visa and Mastercard for AI-Powered Payments

• Cloudflare Launches Protocol to Authenticate AI Agents
• Visa, Mastercard, and AmEx join the payment standard
• Partnership expands integration between AI and cryptocurrencies

Cloudflare announced a new step in its strategy for the future of digital payments by partnering with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to develop authentication standards for e-commerce powered by artificial intelligence (AI) agents. The goal is to create a secure framework for transactions where autonomous agents can purchase and pay for products or services on behalf of human users.

The initiative was revealed on October 14 and represents a milestone in the advancement of the so-called agent economy, a model in which AI programs independently perform tasks such as reservations, subscriptions, and online purchases. Cloudflare, in collaboration with Visa, developed the Trusted Agent Protocol, a system that authenticates AI purchasing agents based on the Web Bot Auth standard, also created by the company.

According to the statement, both Mastercard and AmEx are working on similar integrations within their networks to ensure that only "trusted agents" can operate in the digital commerce environment. Cloudflare's Chief Strategy Officer, Stephanie Cohen, stated that "the future of commerce is agile, and Cloudflare is building a trusted foundation for it."

The company, known for its cloud connectivity infrastructure, has positioned itself as a bridge between AI, payments, and blockchain. Recently, Cloudflare announced plans to launch its NET Dollar stablecoin, as well as a partnership with Coinbase to create the x402 Foundation, aimed at standardizing payments between autonomous agents.

These initiatives reflect a growing trend toward integrating crypto assets with artificial intelligence, in which digital agents will be able to use stablecoins and onchain protocols to settle transactions instantly and securely. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino even stated that "a trillion AI agents" could use Bitcoin and USDT within the next 15 years.

In addition to the major payment networks, other companies such as Adyen, Checkout.com, Circle, Fiserv, Microsoft, Nuvei, Shopify, Webflow, and Worldpay have also joined the project, demonstrating the industry's collective effort to create global standards for automated and autonomous payments.