AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol) Definition.

Agent Payments Protocol: an open protocol unveiled by Google in September 2025 with more than 60 partners (Mastercard, PayPal, American Express, Coinbase, and others). It extends the A2A and MCP protocols to payments initiated by AI agents. It relies on Mandates, cryptographically signed verifiable credentials that capture the user’s intent and form an auditable chain of authorization. Payment-method agnostic, it covers cards, credit transfers, and stablecoins, the latter through an x402 extension.

See also

→ AI payment agent→ ACP (Agentic Commerce Protocol)→ Verifiable credential

Where this term appears

GuideAgentic payments around the worldGuideAgentic payments: the fundamentalsGuideAgentic commerce: what it means for merchantsGuideAI agent identity and mandatesGuideAgentic commerce: scenarios for 2030CoursePreparing for agentic paymentsCourseAgentic payments: the fundamentalsCourseAgentic payments: integration and readinessCourseStablecoins for payments

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