Mastercard has announced a significant advancement in its ASEAN AI strategy with the successful rollout of authenticated agentic transactions across multiple markets in the region, alongside plans to establish a regional AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore. These developments underscore Mastercard’s commitment to promoting secure and transparent agentic commerce while preparing the region for AI-driven payments at scale.
The initial wave of authenticated agentic transactions in Singapore and Malaysia, with additional markets expected to follow, demonstrates the readiness of ASEAN for interoperable AI agents capable of enabling safe, transparent transactions. For the first region-wide testing, Mastercard collaborated with UOB, leveraging the bank’s extensive network to ensure that future deployments could scale across diverse markets. In parallel, Mastercard worked with local banks in each country to support localized implementations, laying the groundwork for broader regional expansion as more stakeholders participate.
Safdar Khan, Division President for Southeast Asia at Mastercard, said, “The first wave of authenticated agentic transactions across ASEAN shows how quickly the region is embracing secure, AI-enabled commerce. With early pilots now live, Mastercard is demonstrating that AI agents can operate responsibly and transparently, giving consumers confidence that every transaction is authenticated and anchored in verifiable intent.” Jacquelyn Tan, Head of Group Personal Financial Services at UOB, added, “Our multi-market collaboration with Mastercard shows how trusted, AI-driven payments can enhance everyday banking and commerce, tailored to diverse lifestyle needs across the region. As adoption grows, we continue to combine innovation and strong governance to scale these capabilities across borders, unlocking greater value for consumers and businesses across ASEAN.”
Mastercard Agent Pay represents the next phase of AI-powered commerce by providing the framework and safeguards needed for secure AI-initiated transactions. By combining tokenized credentials, verifiable intent, and end-to-end auditability through Mastercard Agentic Tokens and Payment Passkeys, the platform ensures that every AI-driven transaction aligns with consumer authorization and trust expectations. As commerce becomes increasingly autonomous, Mastercard is introducing Verifiable Intent, a standards-based trust paradigm co-developed with Google, which creates a tamper-resistant record of user authorization and serves as a shared source of truth for consumers, merchants, and issuers.
Later this year, Mastercard will launch its regional AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore, combining its innovation hub, advanced cybersecurity capabilities, and AI expertise to form its largest innovation space in Asia Pacific. The centre reflects Mastercard’s broader commitment to advancing AI in the region, building on more than a decade of AI applications across its network, including fraud detection, cybersecurity, and real-time risk management. Supported by deep data assets, established governance frameworks, and over 2,000 global data scientists, engineers, and consultants, the CoE is designed to accelerate AI readiness.
“Trust is the currency of the AI economy. As connected commerce expands across ASEAN, data is key to transforming payments into seamless and intuitive experiences. Mastercard’s AI Centre of Excellence, together with regional collaborations, will strengthen the frameworks necessary for AI-powered commerce to scale responsibly. By pairing innovation with strong governance, we are laying the foundation for AI-initiated payments that are secure, interoperable across borders, and inclusive for consumers and businesses throughout Southeast Asia,” concluded Khan.
