GoCardless adds another use case for A2A payments as the UK looks to diversify its payments infrastructure.
GoCardless has processed the UK’s first AI-powered account-to-account (A2A) payment, completing a recurring donation to anti-poverty charity Trussell.
The donation was completed in a conversation with an AI bot, where the supporter could ask about Trussell’s work, select a donation amount, and set up a recurring payment without leaving the chat.
According to GoCardless, the AI presented three monthly donation options – £5, £10 and £15 – in addition to information about how the money would be used. Once the user selected an amount, they were asked to provide their bank details, which were then used to set up a Direct Debit mandate.
Christianne McKenzie, Head of Individual Giving at Trussell, explained that the experience feels more like a conversation than filling out a form, which is what they want for donors.
“Every recurring donation helps us reach more people in need. If agentic payments make it simpler for someone to commit to giving, that’s a genuine win for everyone as we work to end hunger together,” she said.
The payment was developed and launched through the Financial Conduct Authority‘s AI Live Testing programme, which aims to help firms test AI applications in a controlled environment and consider how they can be deployed safely.
GoCardless said that the user was in control throughout the process, with safeguards tailored to ensure the payer could set limits and hold final approval over the payment.
A2A finds its agentic foothold
Agentic payments are still at an early stage, with most activity so far focused on testing how AI agents could interact with payment systems and make ecommerce transactions on consumers’ behalf.
The GoCardless transaction is notable because it uses agentic AI to set up a recurring payment, opening the door for AI agents to manage transactions, such as subscriptions, bills or regular donations.
Hiroki Takeuchi, Co-founder and CEO of GoCardless, said the transaction validated the company’s belief that A2A payments are key to enabling agentic commerce.
“We’ve long argued that A2A payments are the natural foundation for agentic commerce, and this groundbreaking transaction turns that core belief into tangible proof,” he said.
Recurring payments are an important use case for A2A payments, with the development of variable recurring payments (VRPs) giving account-to-account infrastructure a potential role in areas such as subscriptions and regular bills.
An AI agent could potentially identify when a recurring payment is needed, set it up and manage it over time, with the consumer setting the parameters for what the agent can do.
The model may also become more acceptable to consumers as they become more familiar with AI handling financial tasks. GoCardless said research it commissioned found that 64% of UK consumers would be open to AI managing their recurring payments if they could retain control over how those payments were made.
Another use case for A2A
The transaction also gives A2A payments another potential use case at a time when the UK is looking to diversify its payments infrastructure and reduce its reliance on card networks.
The National Payments Vision, published by the government in 2024, set out an ambition for a trusted, resilient payments system created around greater choice and next-generation technology.
A2A payments have since become a large part of the picture, with policymakers and the industry exploring how they can become a more credible alternative to cards across different parts of the ecosystem.
The UK government has identified agentic payments as a high-priority use case for AI in financial services, putting the technology at the intersection of two areas where policymakers are looking to encourage innovation. However, A2A still faces hurdles to wider adoption, with consumer trust, fraud protection and safeguards likely to influence how quickly new payment methods gain ground.
Research commissioned by Visa and produced by Public First found that 53% of consumers would abandon a transaction if the payment didn’t feel secure.
