Visa announced the development of a new open standard, the "Trusted Agent Protocol" (TAP), on October 14, 2025, designed to ensure security in the coming era of "agentic commerce," where AI assistants will make purchases on behalf of users. As reported by Axios, the TAP protocol, being developed in partnership with Cloudflare and with support from Microsoft, Shopify, and Adyen, will allow online retailers to distinguish legitimate AI agents from fraudulent bots. The technology will act as a "digital passport" for the agent, cryptographically confirming that it is acting with a specific users permission and has certain limitations (e.g., a purchase amount limit). This will enable retailers to securely interact with automated shoppers without fear of fraud. Visa is positioning TAP as key infrastructure for building trust and accelerating the transition to a future where AI agents are commonplace in online commerce.
Visa Preps for AI Shoppers with "Trusted Agent Protocol"
