Best agentic payment solutions for Singapore merchants (2026)

Key takeaways:

• Most Singapore merchants will need to work with two layers of agentic payment infrastructure: a payment network (Visa or Mastercard) and a payment service provider (PSP) like Airwallex.

• Singapore is one of the most active agentic commerce markets in Asia Pacific, with live authenticated transactions already completed via Mastercard Agent Pay and Visa's pilot with DBS.

• Airwallex is the only Singapore-native PSP in this comparison, with multi-currency infrastructure built for merchants selling across ASEAN.

Agentic payment solutions allow merchants to accept payments initiated by AI agents rather than human shoppers.

As agentic commerce moves from pilot programmes to real-world transactions, businesses need payment infrastructure that can authenticate agents, support cross-border payments, and integrate with existing checkout flows.

In this guide, we'll compare the leading solutions available to Singapore merchants in 2026.

How agentic payment infrastructure actually works

Before comparing solutions, it helps to understand why they don't all compete on the same terms. Agentic payment infrastructure sits across three distinct layers: the network layer, PSP layer, and protocol layer.

Layer 1: The network layer

Visa and Mastercard operate at the network layer.

They establish the standards and programmes that make agent-initiated payments trustworthy at scale: tokenised credentials, cryptographic agent authentication, issuer readiness programmes, and fraud signals built into the transaction flow itself.

When a consumer's bank participates in Mastercard Agent Pay or Visa Intelligent Commerce, their card credentials can be securely delegated to an AI agent. Merchants benefit from this indirectly: their PSP handles the transaction, but the trust infrastructure underneath it comes from the networks.

Layer 2: The PSP layer

Fintech platforms like Airwallex operate at the PSP layer. These are the tools merchants integrate directly: checkout SDKs, payment APIs, consumer-facing wallets, and protocol support for the agent surfaces their customers use (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and others).

A PSP sits between the merchant and the network, translating agent-initiated payment tokens into settled transactions.

Layer 3: The protocol layer

Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and related standards define the language agents and merchant systems use to communicate.

These are the open standards that PSPs and merchants implement to make their catalogues and checkouts accessible to AI agents. UCP spans both layers: it's a protocol standard that any PSP or merchant can adopt, independent of which network their cards run on.

What this means for Singapore merchants

Most merchants will need a PSP that supports the relevant protocols and a payment network whose issuing banks participate in agent-credentialing programmes. These are complementary choices, not competing ones.

A useful mental model: the network layer provides the trust, the PSP layer provides the integration, and the protocol layer provides the common language that connects them.

This guide covers five solutions across all three layers: two PSPs (Airwallex, Stripe), two networks (Visa, Mastercard), and one protocol ecosystem (Google UCP).

5 main agentic payment solutions in Singapore

Each solution plays a different role in the agentic commerce stack. Here's a quick overview, before we go into the individual solutions:

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 1 July 2026.

A note on scope: PayPal's Agent Ready isn't included in this comparison because its current agentic commerce rollout is focused on the US market, with no announced Singapore-specific infrastructure or milestones.

For Singapore merchants evaluating agentic payment infrastructure today, the five solutions in this guide are the most relevant options.

1. Airwallex Airi + Agentic Commerce Suite

Airwallex is the only Singapore-native PSP in this comparison, and that matters more than it might initially seem.

For merchants collecting in SGD, paying out across ASEAN, or operating under MAS oversight, having local infrastructure (FAST, PayNow, local licensing) in the same platform as your agentic commerce integration removes a layer of operational complexity.

The product has two sides:

• Airi is built for consumers. Today, it’s a one-click checkout wallet that securely stores payment credentials. It’s also being developed into a full agentic wallet: one where users will be able to decide exactly which agents can spend on their behalf, with scoped tokens that agents use at checkout and revocable authorisation controls.

• Agentic Commerce Suite is built for merchants. It makes your product catalogue readable by AI agents via an MCP server, and handles checkout across both ACP and UCP.

Features:

• Airi one-click checkout wallet

• MCP server for AI agent catalogue discoverability

• ACP and UCP-compatible checkout SDK

• Like-for-like settlement in 14+ currencies

• SGD collection, FAST and PayNow support

• SG-licensed infrastructure

Learn more about our Agentic Commerce Suite or sign up now.

2. Stripe Agentic Commerce Suite

If you're already on Stripe and want the fastest path to accepting agent-initiated payments, this is the lowest-friction option available.

Stripe co-created ACP with OpenAI, which means ChatGPT Shopping (one of the highest-traffic AI shopping surfaces today) runs on Stripe's infrastructure. That's a meaningful distribution advantage for merchants who want more reach without extra integration work.

Stripe's network coverage has also expanded significantly. Its Shared Payment Tokens now include credentials issued by Mastercard and Visa for agent transactions, so merchants on Stripe get network-layer trust built in.

The main limitation for SG merchants is that Stripe is a global-first product: there's no Singapore-specific agentic infrastructure, and FX conversion fees may apply when currency conversion is required for settlement.¹

Features:

• Shared Payment Tokens (SPTs): scoped credentials that expire after each transaction

• ACP co-creator: direct integration with ChatGPT Shopping

• Mastercard and Visa agentic network tokens supported via SPTs

• BNPL via SPTs (Affirm, Klarna)

• Auto-supported for existing Stripe merchants: no additional setup

• Stripe Link wallet evolving toward agent delegation

3. Visa Intelligent Commerce

Visa's play in agentic commerce is about trust at network scale. With 4.8 billion credentials globally,² the question Visa is solving isn't how to build a new wallet: it's how to make existing consumer cards work safely when an AI agent is the one initiating the payment.

For Singapore merchants, the practical implication is that customers using DBS, Trust Bank, or StraitsX cards will increasingly be able to transact via AI agents without needing a new wallet or credential setup.

Merchants don't integrate Visa directly; they access VIC through their PSP or acquirer. Intelligent Commerce Connect, launched in April 2026, simplifies this: one integration via the Visa Acceptance Platform covers multiple agent protocols at once.³

The Agentic Ready programme, live in Singapore since April 2026 with 13 issuers, is the mechanism through which SG-issued cards get tested and validated for agent transactions.⁴

Features:

• Trusted Agent Protocol: cryptographic verification of agent authorisation per transaction

• Intelligent Commerce Connect: single integration covering ACP, UCP, MPP, and TAP

• Visa Agentic Ready: SG issuer testing programme (13 issuers, April 2026)

• Accessed via PSP or acquirer: no direct merchant integration required

• DBS pilot live for everyday SG transactions

4. Mastercard Agent Pay

Where Visa's focus is on credential scale, Mastercard's emphasis is on accountability.

Verifiable Intent creates a tamper-proof record of the consumer's authorisation for each agent-initiated purchase. That record travels with the transaction, giving both the merchant and the issuing bank something to refer back to if a dispute arises.

Mastercard is further ahead than any other solution in this comparison in terms of live SG transactions: authenticated purchases were completed via DBS and UOB in March 2026.⁵

Agent Pay for Machines, launched June 2026, extends this further into B2B territory: micro and machine-speed payments between agents, on card and stablecoin rails.⁶

Features:

• Mastercard Payment Passkeys: tokenised credential authentication per transaction

• Verifiable Intent: tamper-proof consumer authorisation records (built with Google)

• Agent Pay for Machines: micro and B2B machine-speed transactions

• Card and stablecoin rail support

• Mastercard AI Centre of Excellence based in SG

5. Google UCP ecosystem

Google UCP is the only solution in this comparison that isn't a payment product in the traditional sense.

It's an open standard that lets AI agents communicate with merchant systems across the shopping journey, from product discovery through to checkout and post-purchase. A merchant implements UCP once to become compatible with AI surfaces that support the protocol.

UCP is co-developed with companies including Shopify, Etsy, Target, and Walmart, and is endorsed by Mastercard, Visa, and Stripe, positioning it as a protocol that extends well beyond Google's own ecosystem.⁷

For Singapore merchants, UCP is still in early access via Google Merchant Center, with no confirmed full rollout date. However, Google's partnership with Ant International and Visa on AI-driven payments across Southeast Asia suggests the region is an important focus for future expansion.⁹

Features:

• Open standard (Apache 2.0): compatible with AP2, A2A, and MCP

• Covers full commerce journey: discovery, checkout, post-purchase

• Universal Cart: multi-retailer cart across Google Search and Gemini

• Single integration via Merchant Center (Shopify onboarding simplified)

• Ant International SEA partnership for ASEAN reach

Comparing agentic payment platforms: criteria that matter in Singapore

Here are the criteria to evaluate when you compare the different agentic payment platforms. We’ll start with a quick overview, before sharing more context about each criteria:

1. Protocol support

The two protocols SG merchants need to care about most right now are ACP and UCP. ACP powers ChatGPT Shopping, which is the highest-traffic AI shopping surface currently live. UCP powers Google AI Mode and Gemini.

• Airwallex: ACP, UCP, and MCP for catalogue queries

• Stripe: ACP-native; Mastercard and Visa network tokens included via SPTs

• Visa: ACP, UCP, MPP, and TAP via Intelligent Commerce Connect

• Mastercard: network token coverage follows your PSP choice

• Google UCP: UCP, AP2, A2A, and MCP

2. Merchant integration complexity

How much engineering effort each solution requires varies significantly:

• Airwallex: Commerce Suite SDK and MCP server setup required

• Stripe: lowest lift; agent payment support is auto-enabled for existing merchants

• Visa: no direct merchant integration: accessed through your PSP or acquirer

• Mastercard: no direct merchant integration: accessed through your PSP or acquirer

• Google UCP: Merchant Center account plus technical UCP implementation; Shopify merchants get a simpler path

3. Consumer wallet and credential approach

This criterion affects how your customers experience agent-initiated checkout, and whether they need to set up anything new.

• Airwallex Airi: purpose-built for agentic use: per-agent spending limits, revocable access

• Stripe Link: stored-card product evolving toward agent delegation

• Visa: works with existing consumer cards, no new wallet required

• Mastercard: works with existing consumer cards, no new wallet required

• Google UCP: credentials stored in Google Wallet

4. Security architecture

All five use tokenisation as a baseline; raw card data never reaches the agent. The differentiators are in consent and identity handling.

• Airwallex: scoped tokens via Airi with per-agent, per-merchant controls

• Stripe: SPT tokenisation scoped to single merchant and currency

• Visa: Trusted Agent Protocol attaches a cryptographic signature before each transaction is approved

• Mastercard: Verifiable Intent creates a tamper-proof authorisation record per transaction

• Google: AP2 cryptographic mandates bind each payment to a specific consumer authorisation

5. SG/APAC readiness

• Airwallex: local merchant infrastructure including SGD collection, FAST, PayNow and MAS licensing

• Stripe: fully operational in SG, but no SG-specific agentic advantage

• Visa: broadest SG issuer coverage: 13 institutions in Agentic Ready programme

• Mastercard: live transactions, AI Centre of Excellence in SG, DBS and UOB participating

• Google UCP: least SG-ready today; Ant International's SEA partnership signals regional intent

6. Compliance and regulatory considerations

No solution has a definitive answer on who bears liability when an agent exceeds its mandate or transacts in error. MAS has not yet codified rules for AI-initiated transactions, and PDPA implications for agent-held consumer credentials remain an open question.

The most defensible position today is to build in consumer consent controls, clear authorisation limits, and an auditable transaction record from the start.

What's live in Singapore

Airwallex and Stripe can be integrated directly by merchants today. Mastercard and Visa are live in Singapore but accessed only through a PSP or bank; merchants can't integrate them independently. Google UCP is available via early access, with no confirmed full SG rollout date.

How to choose: a decision framework for Singapore merchants

The right starting point depends on your situation. Here are three common profiles for SG merchants evaluating agentic payment infrastructure, and where Airwallex fits in each.

1. You're selling across ASEAN and FX costs are eating into your margins

Multi-currency settlement is where the infrastructure decision gets consequential fast. If you're collecting in SGD but paying out in MYR, IDR, THB, or VND, FX conversion fees compound across every agent-initiated transaction.

Airwallex's multi-currency infrastructure — no conversion fees on ASEAN currencies, local rails across SEA markets, SGD collection with FAST and PayNow — is built for exactly this situation.

Agentic Commerce Suite and Airi sit on top of that infrastructure, meaning your agentic commerce layer and your payment layer are unified from the start.

2. You need agent catalogue discoverability, not just checkout

Most agentic payment solutions focus on the transaction: how credentials are tokenised and authorised. Fewer address how AI agents find your products in the first place.

Airwallex's MCP server makes your product catalogue readable by AI agents directly, so your inventory is discoverable before a consumer even reaches checkout.

3. You're building for the full ASEAN stack, not just Singapore

Airwallex operates across SEA with local infrastructure in multiple markets, which means the same platform that handles your SG agentic commerce integration can scale with you into MY, ID, TH, and beyond without rebuilding your payment layer each time.

As Mastercard and Visa's merchant-facing programmes roll out across APAC, that coverage will flow through Airwallex's infrastructure automatically.

Why Singapore businesses choose Airwallex for agentic commerce

If you want to start accepting agentic payments in Singapore, Airwallex is the most direct path. Here's what you get with Airwallex:

• SG-native infrastructure — SGD collection, FAST and PayNow, MAS licensing, and local rails across SEA markets built in from the start

• Like-for-like settlement in 14 currencies — settle in the same currency you collect in, so you don't incur unnecessary conversion costs

• Airi consumer wallet — one-click checkout live today; agentic wallet coming soon

• Agent catalogue discoverability — the MCP server in Commerce Suite makes your products readable by AI agents before they reach checkout

• ACP and UCP protocol support — reach across both ChatGPT Shopping and Google's agent surfaces from a single integration

• Full payment platform underneath — agentic commerce sits on top of Airwallex's broader payments infrastructure, so you're not adding a separate vendor for a single channel

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is an agentic payment solution?

An agentic payment solution is infrastructure that lets an AI agent complete a purchase on a consumer's behalf — without the consumer manually entering card details or clicking buy. The agent holds a scoped payment token, authorised by the consumer, and uses it within defined limits such as a maximum amount, a specific merchant, or a set time window.

What compliance or liability considerations should Singapore merchants know before enabling agentic payments?

No solution in this comparison has a definitive answer on who bears liability when an agent exceeds its mandate or transacts in error. MAS has not yet codified rules specifically for AI-initiated transactions, and PDPA implications for agent-held consumer credentials remain an open question. The most defensible position today is to build in consumer consent controls, clear authorisation limits, and an auditable transaction record from the start.

Which agentic payment solutions are live in Singapore right now?

Mastercard Agent Pay has completed live authenticated transactions in SG via DBS and UOB. Visa completed an agent-initiated pilot with DBS in February 2026 and launched its Agentic Ready programme with 13 SG issuers in April 2026. Stripe and Airwallex are both operational and available to SG merchants today.

Do I need to support ACP, UCP, or both?

It depends on which AI shopping surfaces your customers use. ACP powers ChatGPT Shopping and is the most widely live protocol today. UCP powers Google AI Mode and Gemini which are currently US-first, with early access open for Singapore. Supporting both gives you the widest coverage; ACP is the higher priority for Singapore merchants right now.

What is the difference between Airwallex Airi and Stripe Link for agentic commerce?

Airi was built specifically for agentic commerce: it issues scoped tokens to specific AI agents, gives consumers revocable per-agent spending controls, and is designed for multi-currency use across ASEAN. Stripe Link is a stored-card product that is evolving toward agent delegation via Shared Payment Tokens; it is more widely adopted but not purpose-built for agentic use.

How does Google's Universal Commerce Protocol work for Singapore merchants?

UCP is an open standard that lets AI agents on Google's surfaces — AI Mode in Search and Gemini — complete purchases directly with a merchant's backend. Merchants integrate once via Google Merchant Center and the UCP technical specification. SG merchants can register interest now via early access; a full SG rollout date has not been confirmed.

Sources:

1. stripe.com/blog/supporting-additional-payment-methods-for-agentic-commerce

2. visa.com.sg/about-visa/stories/2026/agentic-commerce-gets-real-in-asia-pacific-is-the-ecosystem-ready.html

3. prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/visa-opens-the-door-to-ai-driven-shopping-for-businesses-worldwide-302737163.html

4. prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/visa-launches-agentic-ready-programme-in-singapore-with-13-banks-and-fintech-partners-302758181.html

5. mastercard.com/news/ap/en/newsroom/press-releases/en/2026/mastercard-delivers-its-first-live-agentic-transaction-in-singapore-with-dbs-and-uob/

6. mastercard.com/us/en/news-and-trends/press/2026/june/mastercard-launches-agent-pay-for-machines.html

7. developers.googleblog.com/under-the-hood-universal-commerce-protocol-ucp/

8. blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/shopping/shopping-updates-google-marketing-live/

9. prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/visa-expands-visa-intelligent-commerce-across-asia-pacific-prepares-for-ai-commerce-pilot-by-early-2026-302612283.html

This publication does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice from Airwallex, nor does it substitute seeking such advice, and makes no express or implied representations / warranties / guarantees regarding content accuracy, completeness, or currency. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]]. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (201626561Z) is licensed as a Major Payment Institution and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.