Cloudflare Partners with Top Payment Firms to Secure Agentic Commerce
▼ Summary
– Cloudflare is collaborating with major payment companies including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to create an authentication layer for agentic commerce using the Web Bot Auth protocol.
– The Trusted Agent Protocol, developed with Visa, enables merchants to securely identify and engage with AI shopping agents while accepting various payment methods like credit, debit, and crypto.
– Agentic commerce involves AI agents acting as personal shoppers on behalf of consumers, presenting opportunities but requiring merchants to distinguish trusted agents from malicious bots.
– Web Bot Auth allows AI agents to authenticate themselves, helping merchants verify agent identity and intent while ensuring compatibility with major agentic frameworks for secure, large-scale deployment.
– This initiative aims to provide a trusted foundation for agentic commerce by integrating security directly into the design, allowing legitimate AI agents to transact safely while blocking fraudulent traffic.
Cloudflare has joined forces with major payment providers including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to establish a secure authentication framework for agentic commerce. This industry collaboration utilizes the Web Bot Auth protocol, allowing artificial intelligence shopping agents to transact safely with millions of online merchants worldwide. The initiative addresses the growing need for merchants to distinguish between trustworthy AI assistants and potentially harmful automated bots.
Together, Cloudflare and Visa developed the Trusted Agent Protocol, a system that integrates Web Bot Auth into payment networks. This enables businesses to interact securely and transparently with AI-driven shopping agents. Visa is embedding these capabilities into its Visa Intelligent Commerce platform. Similarly, Mastercard is incorporating the protocol into Mastercard Agent Pay to help merchants easily identify legitimate agents and provide personalized, secure shopping experiences. American Express will also adopt Web Bot Auth within its own agentic commerce program. AI agents created using the Cloudflare Agents SDK will soon leverage these protocols to shop independently across global merchant sites.
Agentic commerce represents a new frontier in online retail where AI agents manage the entire purchasing process on a consumer’s behalf. While this innovation offers significant benefits for both shoppers and businesses, it also introduces fresh challenges. Merchants require robust systems to reliably differentiate between trusted AI agents and malicious bots, all while maintaining a frictionless customer experience.
The Web Bot Auth protocol, introduced earlier this year, enables bots and agents to authenticate their identity. Through its implementation in the Trusted Agent Protocol, merchants can verify the identity and purpose of agent traffic while securely processing various payment methods including credit, debit, and cryptocurrency. Compatible with all major agentic frameworks, Web Bot Auth establishes an authentication layer that allows businesses and developers to safely deploy agentic commerce at internet scale.
Stephanie Cohen, Cloudflare’s Chief Strategy Officer, emphasized that “the future of commerce is agentic, and Cloudflare is building the trusted foundation for it. We’re directly enabling developers, merchants, and payments companies to innovate, starting with security built into the design rather than as an afterthought. Our global network uniquely positions us to implement trust protocols that allow AI agents to transact safely, unlocking the next era of digital commerce for everyone.”
Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer Jack Forestell noted that “as AI agents begin transacting for consumers, we’re entering a new commerce era demanding trust, transparency, security, and industry collaboration. Merchants shouldn’t face the dilemma of blocking bots versus serving real customers, the Trusted Agent Protocol addresses this challenge directly.”
Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert added that “agents can enable much smoother shopping experiences, but this depends on establishing agent trustworthiness and providing merchants with the necessary tools. Through collaboration with industry partners like Cloudflare, we’re simplifying agent verification for merchants while ensuring a unified approach to agentic commerce that’s scalable, secure, and widely adopted.”
Luke Gebb, American Express Executive Vice President and Head of Global Innovation, stated that “American Express is excited to utilize Cloudflare’s Web Bot Auth Protocol to help merchants identify trusted agents and deliver secure agentic commerce experiences. Trust and accountability form the core of our values, and this partnership reinforces our commitment to safety and confidence in every digital interaction.”
Additional companies providing feedback and helping evolve the Web Bot Auth framework include Adyen, Checkout.com, Circle, Fiserv, Microsoft, Nuvei, Shopify, Webflow, and Worldpay.
Cloudflare and payment partners will leverage Web Bot Auth to support agentic commerce adoption, enabling merchants to grant access to legitimate AI agents while blocking fraudulent traffic at the network edge. This approach allows merchants to understand customer intent as agents communicate their purpose for gathering product information or making purchases. Businesses can maintain personal customer relationships by identifying existing accounts or shopping history even when agents initiate transactions. The system also processes payments from agents using various methods including credit, debit, and cryptocurrency.
Beyond this initiative, Cloudflare has contributed to open protocols like the Agent Payments Protocol, introduced the Cloudflare NET Dollar, and is establishing the x402 Foundation with Coinbase, all efforts aimed at accelerating agentic commerce adoption across the internet.
(Source: MEA Tech Watch)
