AI Agents Learning to Spend Money: Who Handles the Payments?
September 11, 2026 – 4:40 pm
AI Agents (164news.com's guide to ai agents) are already transforming online shopping by comparing prices, filtering options, and completing tasks swiftly, like finding a flight that matches your schedule. However, enabling these agents to make purchases independently raises complex questions about payment systems traditionally designed for humans.
Gartner predicts agentic AI will be integrated into 33% of enterprise software applications by 2028, while McKinsey estimates AI agents could facilitate between $3 trillion and $5 trillion in global consumer commerce by 2030.
Mastercard, Coinbase, and blockchain networks like XDC are among the companies tackling this emerging challenge.
Mastercard’s Solution: Agent Pay for Machines
Mastercard introduced Agent Pay for Machines in June, envisaging a future where agents could continuously exchange services, including micro-transactions as small as fractions of a cent.
XDC AI: Empowering Software to Handle Micro-Transactions
XDC AI leverages its platform to grant AI agents the ability to discover and remunerate digital services on demand, eliminating reliance on traditional checkout flows. Atul Khekade, co-founder of XDC Network, explains:
Every internet transaction so far has assumed a person is on the other end… AI Agents are breaking that assumption completely… If software is going to act on our behalf, it needs a way to pay for what it needs without waiting for someone to approve it every time.
XDC AI‘s solution incorporates:
- Wallet Access: Users grant agents access to wallets and set spending limits.
- USDC Payments: Agents request data or services from paid APIs, paying in USDC with XDC covering gas fees.
- Integration with Bridge (Stripe): Connecting on-chain payments with traditional financial infrastructure for fiat currencies and stablecoins.
Through this system, an agent researching a market could access multiple paid data sources without requiring separate accounts or subscriptions. It pays only for what it needs, completing tasks efficiently and autonomously.
XDC AI utilizes the open protocol x402 (developed by Coinbase) to revive HTTP 402, the "Payment Required" status code, automating payments when an agent requests a paid API.