Mastercard’s recent agentic payment in Hong Kong suggests that AI is ready to handle more everyday transactions and Asia could become a hotbed for its adoption.
Mastercard has completed its first live agentic transaction in Hong Kong, with an AI agent successfully booking a taxi to the airport.
The transaction, announced on 27 March, was carried out using Mastercard Agent Pay, with the AI agent completing a fully authenticated payment through mobility provider hoppa.
The initiative was delivered in partnership with HSBC and DBS Hong Kong, with additional support from other issuing banks in the market, including Citi Hong Kong, Hang Seng Bank, Standard Chartered Hong Kong and Mox Bank.
The transaction used tokenised credentials and Mastercard Payment Passkeys to authenticate the purchase, with the company stating that the milestone is a demonstration of how AI can be used to handle everyday consumer transactions.
“For consumers in Hong Kong, convenience and security are paramount. This first live agentic transaction shows how AI, powered by Mastercard Agent Pay, can simplify travel while keeping every payment safe,” said Helena Chen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Hong Kong and Macau at Mastercard.
A change from commerce
While much of the early development around agentic commerce has focused on e-commerce and online checkout, the company’s latest development proves that there are more practical applications for the technology.
Using an AI agent to make a transport booking is more complex compared to traditional online purchases such as buying products, as it requires multiple service providers to work together as well as real-time availability.
The payments giant said that each transaction is secured using a Mastercard Agentic Token, issued to each AI agent, with consumer consent confirmed through Payment Passkeys.
“We are thrilled to be part of this significant milestone with Mastercard, bringing the future of AI-powered commerce to Hong Kong,” said Ajay Mathur, Head of Consumer Banking Group and Wealth Management at DBS Hong Kong.
“The successful completion of this agentic transaction underscores the immense potential of AI to simplify everyday tasks and enhance security through solutions, like Mastercard Payment Passkeys.”
Signs of a regional push from Mastercard
Earlier this month, Banco Santander and Mastercard completed Europe’s first live, end-to-end payment executed by an AI agent. However, it appears that the company has a real focus on the Asia Pacific region.
The payments company has already completed authenticated agentic transactions in markets including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, South Korea and Taiwan.
Along with these launches, Mastercard is building the systems needed for AI payments, including a regional AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore and teams to help banks and merchants begin to tap into the opportunities available with agent-led payments.
The region is perhaps one of the most suited when it comes to agentic commerce because in countries like China, Indonesia, Singapore and India, super-apps already handle payments, shopping, messaging, transport and banking via one centralised interface.
This makes it easy to adopt agentic commerce because consumers have become accustomed to instant checkout, built-in payments and automated suggestions, which allows AI agents to naturally handle transactions.
Mastercard said that it will continue to expand the use of agentic payment cases across different sectors, including transportation, travel, entertainment and retail, building what it describes as a ‘trusted and scalable foundation’ for AI-powered commerce.
