Mastercard Prepares for Shift in Commerce

Mastercard is gearing up for a significant shift in agentic commerce, a trend that’s changing how payments are made. According to Michael Miebach, Mastercard’s chief executive, “AI is changing how commerce happens, and that leads to more transactions for Mastercard.” He expects this trend to build as the holidays approach.

With momentum building, payments networks like Mastercard cannot afford to fall behind. However, catering to a wide range of banks, processors, sellers, and other payments players introduces complications due to varying stages of readiness in the industry.

Agentic Commerce and Merchant Readiness

Miebach noted that “there’s a lot of patchwork going on here, not everybody’s ready at the same time.” Merchants need to be discoverable, but not all are ready. Mastercard launched Agent Suite in January and added Agent Connect late this summer to help merchants with agentic commerce.

For merchants, discoverability depends on both readiness and technical understanding. Miebach said there’s a wide spectrum of merchant readiness, but he believes agentic commerce will take off, fueled by third-party payment-service providers.

Mastercard’s Strategy and Recent Moves

Mastercard cannot afford to be unprepared for agentic commerce, especially with AI being used by fraudsters. The company has invested in cybersecurity, including the acquisition of Recorded Future, a risk intelligence provider, for $2.65 billion. Mastercard has also pursued stablecoins, digital money backed by fiat currency, with a $1.8 billion deal for BVNK, a stablecoin-technology platform.

Miebach said the BVNK deal has been strong since closing in August, and it’s a revenue-generating business with a different mindset. Mastercard posted $9.81 billion in net revenue for the quarter, up 14% year-over-year, with net income rising 17% to $4.65 billion.

The company’s investments in Agent Suite, Agent Connect, and cybersecurity demonstrate its commitment to being at the forefront of this trend.

Quarterly Results and Outlook

Mastercard’s quarterly results showed a 7% rise in global gross dollar volume, to $2.95 trillion, while U.S. volume grew 6% to $867 million. The company’s cards outstanding totaled 3.8 billion, up 5% from a year ago. As the holidays approach, Mastercard is poised to capitalize on the growing trend of agentic commerce.