AmEx Unveils Framework to Authenticate AI Commerce

A modern cashless payment system using a tablet and card for seamless transactions. Photo: RDNE Stock project/Pexels

American Express Co. has unveiled a framework designed to establish trust in agentic commerce, as payments companies prepare for the growing presence of AI agents in transactions. The framework is positioned as a potential industry standard for payments involving AI agents.

Framework Components and Functionality

It was initially developed with AmEx’s business model in mind, where the company serves as issuer, acquirer, and network for its cards. However, the framework is designed to work with other payment models as well, according to Hannah Bozian, American Express vice president of agentic partnerships.

After identity authentication, the intent is captured by the AI agent.

These tokens are later used at checkout to obtain a secure digital payment credential, replacing actual credit or debit card data.

Enhancing Authorization and Reducing Risk

In traditional e-commerce, only consumers and merchants interact during transactions. With this model, an AI agent mediates the process, introducing new complexities. The company reports processing “thousands” of weekly agentic-commerce transactions through various integrations. Bozian emphasized that the framework allows issuers to receive customer intent data earlier in the transaction lifecycle, enabling better authorization decisions and fraud mitigation.

If issuers have access to this intent data earlier when the customer makes the request and makes their intent to the agent, we can leverage that,” Bozian said. This approach aims to increase authorizations while reducing fraud, agent, and other risks.

Forter’s Entry into Agentic Commerce Verification

The AmEx framework’s release coincides with growing industry interest in agentic commerce. Forter Inc., a fraud-prevention specialist, recently launched its Agentic Commerce Engine to help merchants verify agentic shoppers and manage transaction cycles. The service includes fraud management, agentic orchestration, and an AI activity dashboard for monitoring agentic-commerce transactions.