A group of large global banks have published a paper laying out a shared set of principles intended to support the development of agentic commerce in a way that inspires trust.

ASB Bank, Bank of America, Capital One, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ING Group and NatWest Group have jointly released a five-point document in a bid to help establish a framework for the growing presence of AI agents in purchases and payments.

The principles focus on five areas: transparency, safety, privacy and data, choice and interoperability. They are intended to ensure that both consumers and merchants are able to maintain control over their own data and are provided transparent information over how agents operate.

The banks said that the principles are designed to support the responsible development of agentic commerce, maintaining choice, flexibility and control over how customers and merchants pay and are paid while ensuring the transactions are done safely and securely.

They added that the paper is intended to build on a wider conversation, and invited other banks and institutions across the payments ecosystem to engage with the principles, share different perspectives and work together to apply them in practice.

Mark Brant, chief payments officer at NatWest Group said: “Agentic commerce has the potential to make everyday tasks simpler for customers and businesses, helping people find, buy and pay for what they need more quickly and efficiently. But for that potential to be realised, customers need to trust that they remain in control of how payments are made and that their money is safe.

“As this technology begins to emerge in the UK, it's important that the industry works together to establish clear and consistent foundations. By collaborating with other leading banks, we're helping to shape an approach that puts transparency, security and customer choice at its heart. These principles are designed to support innovation while helping customers and businesses use new services with confidence as the technology evolves.”

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