Worldline has partnered with ING and Visa to complete a live pilot for agent-driven payment transactions.
The transaction, executed in Germany, was designed to test how AI agents can execute purchases within consumer-defined parameters while remaining compliant with existing European regulatory rules like Strong Customer Authentication.
During the pilot, a consumer defined purchase conditions, including the item and timing, and instructed a merchant AI agent to execute the task.
Once the agent identified a suitable product, the user authenticated the purchase intent using Visa Payment Passkeys.
The consumer then confirmed the transaction via biometric authentication before ING, acting as the issuing bank, authorised it. Worldline processed the payment end-to-end across its infrastructure.
Worldline and ING have formally joined Visa’s Agentic Ready Programme. The programme supports real-world testing of AI-enabled commerce using trusted payment credentials and consumer controls.
“As agentic payments emerge, the priority is to build trust into a new way of buying and paying,”
said Madalena Cascais Tomé, Member of the Executive Committee at Worldline.
She noted that orchestrating participants across the payment value chain is necessary to enable these models at scale.
“ING is committed to delivering convenient and secure experiences for our customers and their trusted agents,”
said Hans Overeem, Head of Payments, ING Netherlands.
“This milestone demonstrates that agented payments can be both user-friendly and auditable, with biometrics and delayed capture enabling flexible, safe purchasing.”
The companies said the pilot shows merchants can support agent-initiated commerce without reducing existing fraud protections.
Because transactions use established authentication methods and bank authorisation, AI-driven orders can be processed similarly to conventional online purchases without requiring bespoke payment infrastructure.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by Pixelid via Magnific
