Getnet enables merchants to accept agent-initiated payments

Getnet, Santander's global merchant payments platform, announced infrastructure enabling merchants to accept payments initiated by AI agents, per a Santander press release dated June 9, 2026 and reported by PYMNTS and Finextra. The system allows merchants to accept payments from their own AI agents or from agents operating through conversational platforms. Built on open standards and designed to be interoperable, secure, and protocol-agnostic, the solution connects AI agents directly to Getnet's global payments infrastructure without complex integrations.

"Our goal is to provide the infrastructure that enables merchants, platforms and AI agents to operate securely, interoperably and at scale, making it easier to adopt new AI-powered shopping experiences," said Juan Franco, CEO of Getnet, per the Santander press release.

Getnet, Mastercard, and Mexican housing-fintech startup Neivor completed the first real-world case in Mexico and Latin America of accepting a payment initiated by an AI agent using Mastercard Agent Pay, per the Santander press release. A separate March 2026 Santander-Mastercard transaction was described by Santander as Europe's first live end-to-end payment executed by an AI agent within a regulated banking framework.

"As AI agents take on a more active role in commerce, trust becomes the foundation of every transaction. Mastercard Agent Pay is designed to ensure that agent-initiated payments are secure, authenticated and with verified intent, enabling partners like Getnet to innovate with confidence," said Pablo Fourez, Chief Digital Officer at Mastercard, per the Santander press release.

Getnet has enabled compatibility with Mastercard Agent Pay and is progressing with Visa Intelligent Commerce integration, per the Santander press release. The solution is initially available to businesses operating their own AI agents, with plans to expand to smaller merchants and SMEs via integrated solutions that include built-in agent capabilities.

Agentic commerce - in which autonomous software agents initiate, manage, and execute purchases on behalf of users - is advancing from proof-of-concept toward production payments infrastructure. Companies building agent-initiated payment rails typically focus on standards-based authentication, intent verification, and partner interoperability to manage liability and fraud vectors. For payments engineers and platform architects, the shift emphasizes secure agent identity, consent records, and interoperable APIs across wallet, issuer, and merchant systems.

Monitor the completion of Visa Intelligent Commerce integration, uptake among merchants without in-house agent infrastructure, regulator responses around consent and liability in agent-initiated transactions, and whether standards bodies produce common schemas for agent identity and intent verification.