Visa introduces the Trusted Agent Protocol (TAP) to enhance AI-driven commerce. Designed with industry partners, TAP provides a secure framework for AI agents to interact with merchants, boosting trust and security in automated e-commerce.
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the digital landscape, global payments leader Visa has introduced the Trusted Agent Protocol (TAP), a new framework designed to establish a secure and transparent foundation for AI-driven commerce. The protocol, developed in collaboration with a wide array of industry partners, aims to create a standardized method for AI agents to securely interact and transact with online merchants on behalf of consumers, fostering a new level of trust in the rapidly evolving world of automated e-commerce.
The Rise of Agentic Commerce and Its Challenges
The announcement comes at a time when AI-powered shopping is experiencing exponential growth. According to Visa, AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail websites has surged by an astounding 4,700% in the past year alone, with 85% of consumers who have used AI for shopping reporting an improved experience. While these intelligent agents promise to deliver highly personalized and efficient shopping, they also introduce significant challenges for merchants. Businesses are increasingly struggling to differentiate between legitimate AI agents with purchasing intent and malicious bots designed for fraud or other harmful activities. This ambiguity can lead to mistakenly blocked transactions, revenue loss, and a degraded customer experience.
Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol directly addresses these issues by creating a system for merchants to verify and trust AI agents. The framework is designed to enable secure communication that allows an AI agent to pass critical information to a merchant, thereby distinguishing itself from untrusted automated traffic. This helps preserve the integrity of the transaction while allowing merchants to confidently embrace the future of AI-driven commerce.
An Ecosystem-Led Initiative for a Global Standard
In line with the complex, interconnected nature of the digital economy, Visa has emphasized an ecosystem-led approach in developing the protocol. The initial development was a close collaboration with Cloudflare, and the initiative has garnered feedback and support from a formidable list of partners across the payments and technology sectors, including Adyen, Ant International, Checkout.com, Microsoft, Shopify, Stripe, and Worldpay.
"We believe the entire payments ecosystem has a responsibility to ensure sellers can trust AI agents as much as they trust their best customers and networks," said Jack Forestell, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Visa. "Our new agent protocol is focused on creating no-code functionality for merchants to securely identify agents with an intent to buy and provide a better payments and personalized experience for its known users."
This collaborative stance underscores a shared understanding that building trust in AI requires a unified effort. By making the protocol available in the Visa Developer Center and on GitHub, Visa is encouraging broad adoption and contribution, paving the way for it to become a de facto industry standard.
Implications for AI Trust and Governance
Visa’s introduction of the Trusted Agent Protocol (TAP) represents a significant step forward in the practical implementation of AI Trust. It marks the transition from high-level AI compliance frameworks toward embedded, verifiable mechanisms that ensure transparency and accountability in real-world AI interactions. By standardizing how AI agents securely identify and transact, Visa is effectively operationalizing key AI governance principles such as explainability, traceability, and integrity — themes that lie at the heart of the EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 42001, and other global trust frameworks. For enterprises, this signals a clear direction: digital trust will increasingly be built into the transaction layer itself, making AI assurance not just a regulatory expectation but a foundational enabler of business continuity and customer confidence.
Visa’s TAP illustrates how leading industry players are moving beyond compliance checklists to implement trust-by-design systems. It underscores the importance of preparing AI programs for a future where interoperability, identity assurance, and ethical alignment will determine market access and brand reputation. As one of the foremost AI governance consultancies, Nemko Digital supports organizations in adapting to this new paradigm — translating regulatory and technical standards into practical governance models, risk frameworks, and assurance pathways. Frameworks like TAP will increasingly shape the ecosystem expectations for trusted AI interactions.
