Mastercard has completed Moldova's first agentic payments pilot with maib and Moldindconbank.
The initiative represents an early application of agentic commerce within the country's banking sector, in which AI-powered agents act on behalf of consumers to complete purchases, manage subscriptions, and handle other routine financial tasks.
Agentic commerce refers to a model in which AI agents are recognised and authenticated as participants within the payment flow, rather than operating outside it. Mastercard's agentic framework is designed to keep such transactions visible, governed, and subject to consumer oversight. According to Mastercard, this approach is intended to support the wider adoption of AI-driven shopping and subscription management tools in Moldova, an area the company said is expected to change how consumers in the country transact online.
The pilot confirms that maib and Moldindconbank hold the technical and operational capacity to support emerging AI-driven transaction models. Mastercard stated that it will continue working with both banks to explore further use cases for agentic commerce, while maintaining controls, resilience, and alignment with regulatory requirements.
Irina Untila, Vice President, Country Manager at Mastercard in Moldova, described the milestone as reflective of the momentum within the country's digital ecosystem, noting that AI-powered commerce has the potential to support more efficient and secure payment experiences. Dmytro Krepak, Deputy Chairman of the Managing Board of Moldindconbank, said the bank is among the first in Moldova to support AI-powered commerce. In addition, Macar Stoianov, Deputy Chairman of maib, noted that customers must retain control over their data, permissions, and financial choices as agentic commerce develops in the country.
How Mastercard Agent Pay verifies and secures agent transactions
Mastercard Agent Pay is built around a 'Know-Your-Agent' trust framework, under which an AI agent may only initiate a transaction once it has been identified, registered, and authenticated, and has demonstrated verified intent. Payments are secured through agentic tokens, which apply to both one-off and recurring transactions and are designed to ensure that any activity initiated by an agent remains within permissions and limits set by the consumer. The framework is intended to give consumers visibility into which agent acted on their behalf and where a given purchase was made.
Mastercard said it is also developing a universal data exchange protocol intended to support personalised agentic commerce at scale, alongside biometric authentication through its Payment Passkeys system, which is aimed at giving users consent-based control over their transactions.
At the same time, the Moldova pilot follows a broader pattern of card networks and banks testing frameworks for authenticating AI agents within payment systems, as agentic commerce moves from a conceptual stage towards practical deployment across different markets.
