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Mastercard launches Agent Connect to link merchants with AI shopping agents

September 9, 2026 at 14:50 EDT

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Mastercard has launched Agent Connect and expanded Agent Suite for Merchants, giving businesses tools to build AI-powered shopping experiences, expose product data to external agents and support consumer-authorized purchases. The announcement, dated September 9, 2026, positions the offering as a single connection between merchants, AI agents, digital platforms and payment providers.

September 9, 2026 · Mastercard

AI shopping gets a merchant connection layer

Agent Connect links merchants, AI agents, platforms and payment providers, while Agent Suite for Merchants keeps product, brand and transaction controls with the business.

Four functions move from discovery to payment

Core functions

Named participants

One connection is intended to simplify a growing network of merchant and agent integrations.

1 · Discover

Catalogs, prices, availability and fulfillment data.

2 · Orchestrate

Agents select products and confirm cart details.

3 · Authorize

Consumer consent, authentication and tokenized credentials.

4 · Purchase

A trusted path from agent-led intent to transaction.

Merchant upside

Reach external AI agents while keeping control of brand identity, product information and business rules.

Open questions

Coverage, data governance and consumer trust will determine how quickly agentic checkout scales.

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