Mastercard announced that, in cooperation with OTP Bank, it has completed the first live authenticated transaction initiated by an AI agent in Hungary. According to Mastercard, the case illustrates how AI‑driven commerce can operate securely and responsibly.
The implementation uses Mastercard Agent Pay technology. In the described example, the AI agent recommended a coffee‑tasting event to a cardholder who held a Mastercard issued by OTP Bank, then booked the experience and paid the deposit on the user’s behalf via Priceless.com, Mastercard’s experiences platform. The purchase was enabled by the integration between the AI agent and the Priceless platform, while payment processing was supported by the PayOS system.
During the transaction, so‑called agentic tokens were used to protect sensitive data, and the process incorporated strong customer authentication throughout. Mastercard describes Agent Pay as a framework intended to ensure that AI‑initiated payments are transparent and authenticated while preserving consumer control over transactions.
Márkus Gergely, head of Mastercard for Hungary and Slovenia, commented on the milestone: “What a few months ago seemed a distant possibility has now become a reality in Hungary. Artificial intelligence offers significant potential to simplify everyday activities, while trust and security are paramount. Mastercard Agent Pay aims to make AI‑initiated transactions transparent and authenticated, while keeping consumers fully in control. We thank OTP Bank for its cooperation in helping to establish the foundations of reliable, AI‑enabled commerce.”
Becsei András, deputy CEO of OTP Bank’s Retail Division, added: “AI‑driven commerce represents an important step in the evolution of digital services. As transactions become increasingly automated, appropriate protective mechanisms are essential. Customer authorization and full transparency remain fundamental in these cases. Our cooperation with Mastercard demonstrates that these principles can be built into solutions from the start.”
Security components used
- Mastercard Agent Pay: the protection framework for purchases initiated by AI agents.
- Agentic tokens: tokenization measures designed to safeguard sensitive data.
- Strong customer authentication: transaction approvals rely on biometric‑based methods (Mastercard Payment Passkeys).
- PayOS: the system supporting payment processing.
Mastercard says it will continue working with European partners to promote the wider adoption of secure, authenticated AI‑agent transactions across industries.
