Agents to Payments (AP2)

September 27, 2025 at 10:00 PM

Google’s AP2. What does it mean for e-commerce?

Google recently announced something called Agents to Payments (AP2). In simple terms, it’s a protocol that allows AI agents not just to find products, but actually to complete the purchase on your behalf. That means your assistant could go from “Here’s the product you asked for” to “Your order is placed”, without you ever visiting the store.

Haven’t we heard this before? This isn’t the first time tech has promised to change how we shop. Alexa was supposed to make voice commerce mainstream, but most people never used it beyond reordering paper towels.

Smart fridges were meant to refill your milk automatically, but the idea never scaled.

Why? The use cases were too narrow, and the experience wasn’t better than just opening your phone. The difference this time is that AI agents aren’t limited to reorders. They can compare prices across stores, find unique products, or surface items that would take you ages to track down manually. And AP2 gives them a standard way to actually pay.

How AP2 actually works

Every AP2 purchase follows three “mandates”, think of them as digital contracts that record what’s happening: Intent Mandate - the user’s request is captured and signed (e.g. “Find me a blue wool sweater under €150, delivered by October 10”).

- Cart Mandate once a product is found, the details are locked (“Nike Air Zoom, size 40, €115, shipping in 3 days”). - Payment Mandate the order is linked to a specific payment method (card, bank transfer, wallet, etc.), with risk and authorization data attached.

Together, these mandates create a verifiable chain: intent → cart → payment. It means merchants, PSPs, and banks can trust that the order is real and authorized.

What this means for merchants and PSPs

For e-commerce stores, AP2 isn’t something that “just works” in the background. A few implications: Discoverability: Products need to be visible to agents, likely through APIs or listings. If your store isn’t exposed in an agent-friendly way, you won’t show up.

PSP readiness: Your payment provider must support agent transactions and handle the mandate data. Some PSPs will move faster than others. Checkouts: If your setup still relies on locked-down iframes, they may need to change. Payment choice: In theory, agents could support cards, BNPL, etc. But in practice, the first wave will likely lean on cards and wallets. Brand risk: If the agent handles discovery and checkout, your brand may be invisible unless you find ways to embed metadata or richer product info in the flow.

Open questions

AP2 is still early, and there are things we don’t know yet: Will iframe checkouts ever work with mandates, or will they need to be rebuilt?

Which PSPs will support this first, and how fast?

Will agents let users pick invoice or BNPL, or will it all default to card rails at the start?

Who carries the liability if an agent makes a mistake? _ How do merchants protect their brand when the agent controls the journey?_

These unknowns mean AP2 won’t reshape e-commerce overnight. Adoption will probably start with marketplaces, large retailers, or forward-leaning PSPs.

Threat or opportunity?

It’s both. The risk: You lose control of the customer journey. If agents handle discovery and checkout, you miss the chance to inspire, upsell, and build brand loyalty. **The opportunity: **For functional purchases where speed matters more than experience, AP2 could become a powerful new channel.

Where I think it makes sense (and where it doesn’t)

I don’t see people using agents when they’re: configuring a bike, a computer, or furniture, browsing for fun, like scrolling H&M’s latest drops

But I do see the value when they’re:

• Comparing prices
• Finding something rare or niche
• Re-ordering something they already know they want

My take I don’t believe AP2 will replace online stores any more than Alexa did. But unlike Alexa or smart fridges, this time the scope is bigger. AI agents can genuinely save time when shopping is just a task, not an experience.

That makes AP2 worth paying attention to. For some, it will feel like a threat. For others, it may open doors.

The question every retailer needs to ask is simple: Do I want my customers to reach me through an agent, or do I invest in experiences an agent can’t replace?