Agent Payments Protocol (AP2): What does it mean for ecommerce and marketers? | MarTech

"Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is a new open standard that lets AI agents complete purchases on a consumer's behalf - safely, with proof of consent and with clear accountability if something goes wrong. Think of it as the missing payments layer for "agentic commerce," where shoppers increasingly delegate tasks like research, comparison and checkout, to AI assistants that operate across sites and apps."

"AP2 builds on the emerging "agent stack." If A2A (Agent-to-Agent) is the protocol that allows agents to talk to each other and hand off tasks, AP2 is the protocol that lets an agent actually pay once a user says "yes, buy it." In other words: A2A solves interoperability; AP2 solves authorization, intent binding and the audit trail for money movement."

"In other words: A2A solves interoperability; AP2 solves authorization, intent binding and the audit trail for money movement. At its core, AP2 aims to: Prove specific user consent for a purchase (not just general permission to spend). Bind the agent's request to the shopper's true intent, reducing "agent drift." Establish accountability if a transaction is fraudulent or incorrect, creating the records needed for dispute resolution."

Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is an open standard that enables AI agents to complete purchases on consumers' behalf with explicit consent, intent binding, and accountability. Google and a consortium of more than 60 partners across payments networks, wallets, marketplaces and security providers back AP2 to enable interoperable adoption. AP2 complements A2A (Agent-to-Agent) by providing authorization, proof of intent and an auditable money-movement trail. Core goals are proving specific user consent, reducing agent drift by binding requests to shopper intent, and creating records needed for dispute resolution. Broad AP2 adoption could normalize hands-off purchasing where agents research, choose and check out for users.

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