Google has introduced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), a new open standard aimed at enabling AI agents to carry out secure payments across different platforms. AP2 builds on the existing Agent2Agent protocol and supports a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, stablecoins, and bank transfers.
A key element of the design is digital mandates, which are cryptographic authorizations that lock in user intent. These mandates are intended to ensure that transactions remain verifiable and secure, whether for real-time purchases or automated transactions when the user is not directly involved.
The initiative is already backed by more than 60 companies, among them Mastercard, PayPal, Coinbase, and Adobe. By creating a unified framework, the goal is to establish a standardized and trustworthy system for agent-driven commerce. Google has made the documentation available on GitHub.
