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, along with plans to establish a new regional AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore. These initiatives demonstrate Mastercard’s commitment to accelerating secure and transparent agentic commerce while preparing the region for AI-driven payments at scale.

The first wave of authenticated agentic transactions was launched in Singapore and Malaysia, with additional markets expected to follow. This rollout highlights the region’s readiness for interoperable AI agents capable of enabling secure and transparent transactions. Mastercard collaborated with UOB, a leading ASEAN bank, for the initial region-wide testing, leveraging the bank’s extensive network to ensure future deployments can scale across diverse markets. Simultaneously, Mastercard worked with local banks in each country to support localized implementations. These pilots provide a foundation for broader regional expansion as more stakeholders join the ecosystem.

Safdar Khan, Division President for Southeast Asia at Mastercard, said the successful pilots demonstrate how quickly the region is adopting secure, AI-enabled commerce. He emphasized that AI agents can now operate responsibly and transparently, giving consumers confidence that every transaction is authenticated and aligned with their intent. Jacquelyn Tan, Head of Group Personal Financial Services at UOB, added that the collaboration reflects how trusted AI-driven payments can enhance everyday banking and commerce while combining innovation with strong governance to scale capabilities across borders and sectors in ASEAN.

Mastercard’s Agent Pay system underpins this next phase of AI-powered commerce by providing the safeguards and framework necessary for trusted AI-initiated transactions. By integrating tokenized credentials, verifiable intent, and end-to-end auditability through Mastercard Agentic Tokens and Payment Passkeys, every AI-initiated transaction is aligned with consumer authorization and trust expectations. The Verifiable Intent framework, co-developed with Google, creates a tamper-resistant record of user authorization, serving as a shared source of truth across 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 create its largest innovation space in Asia Pacific. The center reflects Mastercard’s focus on advancing artificial intelligence across the region and builds on over a decade of AI applications in fraud detection, cybersecurity, and real-time risk management. The organization’s global team of more than 2,000 data scientists, engineers, and consultants ensures robust governance and data management across AI initiatives.

Safdar Khan emphasized that trust is the currency of the AI economy. As commerce becomes increasingly connected across ASEAN, data will be key to transforming payments into seamless and intuitive experiences. The new AI Centre of Excellence, together with ongoing collaborations across the region, will strengthen the frameworks needed for AI-powered commerce to scale responsibly. By combining innovation with strong governance, Mastercard aims to create AI-initiated payments that are secure, interoperable across borders, and inclusive for consumers and businesses throughout Southeast Asia.