Hungary’s First, AI Agent-Initiated Live Transaction

Mastercard announced this week that the first live, authenticated transaction initiated by an AI agent was successfully completed in collaboration with OTP Bank, demonstrating how AI-based commerce can be implemented in a secure and responsible manner.

The transaction, built on Mastercard’s Agent Pay technology, illustrates how AI agents can process purchases on behalf of consumers in a secure, user-consent-based, and verifiable manner.

In this use case, the AI agent recommended, reserved and paid a deposit for a coffee tasting on behalf of a user holding a Mastercard issued by OTP Bank on Priceless.com, Mastercard’s experience platform. The transaction was facilitated by an AI agent that connected to the Priceless platform and completed the purchase on the consumer’s behalf. The entire transaction was supported by PayOS.

During the purchase, agentic tokens were used to ensure the protection of sensitive data and strong customer authentication throughout the entire process.

Gergely Márkus, Country Manager for Mastercard in Hungary and Slovenia, highlighted that “what we referred to as a distant trend just a few months ago is now a reality in Hungary as well. AI offers tremendous potential for simplifying everyday tasks, yet trust and security remain paramount. The goal of Mastercard Agent Pay is to ensure that AI-initiated transactions are transparent, authenticated and remain under the consumer’s control at all times. We thank OTP Bank for this strategic partnership, through which we are jointly helping to lay the foundations for reliable, AI-driven commerce.”

As for Mastercard Agent Pay, it provides the security mechanisms necessary for AI-initiated purchases. Consumer consent is clearly recorded, and purchase confirmation is handled using Mastercard Payment Passkeys (strong customer authentication via biometric identification), ensuring that transactions remain transparent, authenticated and fully under the consumer’s control.