Singapore – Cloudflare, Inc., a company specialising in connectivity and digital security, has announced a collaboration with several major payment networks to establish an authentication framework for agentic commerce.
This initiative uses the Web Bot Auth protocol to allow AI agents to make purchases across a wide range of online retailers worldwide.
Working with Visa, Cloudflare has introduced the Trusted Agent Protocol, which integrates Web Bot Auth into payment systems and enables merchants to engage with AI-driven shopping agents securely. Visa is incorporating these capabilities into its Visa Intelligent Commerce platform, while Mastercard and American Express are applying the protocol to their own agentic commerce programmes.
Mastercard is integrating the protocol into Mastercard Agent Pay to help merchants recognise trusted agents and offer secure, personalised AI shopping experiences, and American Express is doing the same in its agentic initiatives.
AI agents built with the Cloudflare Agents SDK will soon be able to transact autonomously with millions of merchants globally.
Stephanie Cohen, chief strategy officer at Cloudflare, mentioned that the future of commerce is agentic and that the company has built a trusted foundation for agentic systems.
“We’re directly enabling developers, merchants, and payments companies to innovate, which starts by ensuring security is not an afterthought– it’s built in by design,” Stephanie commented.
She added, “Our company is uniquely positioned to enable trust protocols that allow AI agents to transact safely, unlocking the next era of digital commerce for all.”
Agentic commerce refers to a model of online retail in which AI systems act on behalf of consumers, managing the entire purchasing process. While this creates new opportunities for buyers and sellers, it also introduces security challenges, as retailers need systems to distinguish legitimate AI agents from malicious automated traffic without disrupting customer experience.
“A new era of commerce is emerging–one that demands trust, transparency, security, and industry collaboration,” Jack Forestell, chief product and strategy officer at Visa, stated.
He added, “Merchants shouldn’t have to choose between blocking bots and serving real customers–Trust Agent Protocol helps solve that.”
The protocol allows automated systems to verify their identity and intentions. When applied through the Trusted Agent Protocol, it enables merchants to confirm agent legitimacy and accept a variety of payment methods, including credit, debit, and cryptocurrency.
It is also compatible with major agentic frameworks, providing a consistent authentication layer that supports safe, large-scale adoption of AI-driven commerce.
Through Web Bot Auth, Cloudflare and its payment partners aim to give merchants the ability to validate genuine agent activity, block harmful traffic, and maintain customer relationships even when purchases are made by agents.
Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard, shared that AI agents have the potential to deliver more seamless shopping experiences, but it’s only possible if agents can be trusted and merchants are equipped with tools to remain secure and efficient.
“In collaboration with industry partners like Cloudflare, we are simplifying agent verification for merchants and ensuring a unified approach to agentic commerce that is scaleable, secure, and widely adopted,” Jorn explained.
Input on the protocol has also been provided by companies, including Adyen, Checkout.com, Circle, Fiserv, Microsoft, Nuvei, Shopify, Webflow, and Worldpay, all of whom continue to collaborate on its development.
Cloudflare has further contributed to initiatives such as the Agent Payments Protocol, the launch of the Cloudflare NET Dollar, and the establishment of the x402 Foundation with Coinbase, supporting the growth and adoption of agentic commerce across the internet.
