ING has been working with Worldline and Mastercard to test this kind of agentic payment transaction, resulting in the first of its kind running on infrastructure based entirely in Europe, which we announced at Money 20/20 in Amsterdam.
In this example, an ING customer used an AI assistant to buy tickets on the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra website. The customer told the assistant what they were looking for: experience, dates, budget. The assistant suggested options, and the customer picked one and approved the purchase.
From choosing the tickets to completing the payment, every step was carried out by the AI.
“We’re excited about this move towards a future where seamless, intelligent interactions redefine the way people engage with banking and online shopping” said Hans Overeem, head of Payments at ING in the Netherlands.
This kind of agentic commerce – where AI agents can make and carry out purchases for customers – is moving quickly and could change how people shop online. For customers, it can save time. For businesses, it creates new ways to connect with customers and respond to what they’re looking for in real time.
For now, these interactions are still assisted. But over time, they are expected to become more autonomous, with AI acting within clear boundaries set by the customer.
“For ING, this collaboration is the perfect opportunity to keep building our role as a trusted partner in an increasingly agentic future in banking. We look forward to making agentic commerce a great experience for all our customers, both private and business,” added Hans.