EMVCo seeks feedback on card-based agentic payment framework

EMVCo, the technical body that manages the EMV specifications, released a draft framework for card-based agentic payments on September 1 and opened it for industry feedback until September 30, according to a statement issued in London. The document, titled EMV Agentic Payments – Framework for Specifications, is intended as a foundation for further industry engagement rather than a final set of rules.

The framework addresses how payment participants establish that a consumer delegated authority to an AI agent to make a purchase. Card systems already authenticate consumers, protect credentials and authorise individual transactions, but agentic commerce introduces a further test: determining whether a given purchase falls within instructions that may cover multiple transactions or remain active over time.

“Card-based agentic payments require a globally interoperable foundation that consumers, merchants, and issuers can all trust,” said Junya Tanaka, executive committee chair at EMVCo, in the announcement.

The draft introduces a concept EMVCo calls Intent Services, a shared layer allowing authorised participants to register, reference, retrieve and manage consumer-authorised intent before, during and after a transaction. The body said this would complement the cryptographic assurance provided by existing solutions such as Verifiable Intent, adding a common coordination point so participants interpret intent consistently.

EMVCo focused on scenarios where intent must persist across multiple interactions, including recurring purchases, cumulative spending limits and post-transaction activities. A consumer authorising an agent to spend up to a set monthly amount on groceries illustrates the problem: each individual purchase must be checked against a mandate that spans many transactions, according to PYMNTS.

The document sets out ecosystem roles and data fields for registering intent, maintaining lifecycle and state information, and enabling authorised retrieval of intent-related data, according to Digital Transactions. EMVCo is owned collectively by American Express, Discover, JCB, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa.