Why Agentic Commerce Could Be a Game-Changer for Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated MA is positioning itself for the rise of agentic commerce — a new form of digital shopping in which AI-powered agents can search, compare and purchase products on behalf of consumers. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into everyday commerce, the payments industry is entering a new phase where transactions may be initiated by software agents rather than people directly. This shift could create a significant new source of digital payment activity.To support this evolution, Mastercard has introduced Agent Pay, a framework designed to enable secure AI-driven transactions. It has also expanded its collaborations with leading AI firms, including OpenAI, while launching Verifiable Intent, a solution that helps verify and record consumer authorization when an AI agent makes a purchase. Moving beyond pilots, recently, MA and PhotonPay completed a live agentic payment transaction in Hong Kong, demonstrating how an AI agent can autonomously select and execute a purchase using tokenized payment credentials.Agentic commerce requires trusted identity verification, credential protection, fraud monitoring and dispute management — areas where Mastercard already has strong capabilities. Its tokenization technology and cybersecurity offerings can help address the trust and security challenges associated with autonomous transactions. These strengths complement its Value-Added Services and Solutions business, which posted 18% year-over-year revenue growth on a currency-neutral basis in the first quarter of 2026.Although still in its early stages, MA is building the infrastructure needed for an AI-driven economy. As AI-powered assistants become more widely used, Mastercard could benefit from higher transaction volumes, broader service adoption and new monetization opportunities across its payments and technology ecosystem.How Are Competitors Faring?Some of MA’s competitors in the fintech space include Visa Inc. V and Affirm Holdings, Inc. AFRM.Visa is aggressively expanding its AI-driven commerce ecosystem through initiatives like Visa Intelligent Commerce and the Agentic Ready program. V is testing agent-initiated payments, strengthening tokenization and fraud controls, and building infrastructure that allows AI agents to securely shop and transact across global merchant networks.Affirm is strengthening its position in AI-powered commerce through an expanded partnership with Google. By integrating its BNPL services into Google Search, AI Mode and the Gemini app through Google Pay, AFRM is aiming to make instalment financing more accessible within AI-assisted shopping and checkout experiences.Mastercard’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesOver the past year, MA’s shares have dropped 6.9% compared with the industry’s fall of 19.2%.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchFrom a valuation standpoint, MA trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, above the industry average of 17.28. MA carries a Value Score of C.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for Mastercard’s 2026 earnings implies 15.2% growth from the year-ago period.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchMastercard currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks