Payments: the e-commerce revolution driven by AI agents

“Find and buy me a pair of road running shoes. I have wide feet, I run 30 km a week, I’ve got a budget of 150 euros and I need them by Friday.” This is the instruction the customer gives to their AI agent, which, in a matter of seconds, checks dozens of e-commerce sites, reads thousands of reviews written by other users with wide feet to rule out models that are too narrow, optimises the purchase by communicating directly with the retailers’ systems, finds the lowest price and checks actual stock availability to ensure delivery by Friday, and automatically searches for coupons linked to the customer’s credit card or active discount codes online. Once the perfect match has been found, the agent completes the transaction. It then uses encrypted payment data (e.g. a secure banking token) to make the payment, whilst the customer receives a notification on their phone: ‘I’ve bought Brand X shoes for €129, saving you €21 on your budget, and they’re on their way.’ Here’s the receipt. This isn’t science fiction, but rather the similar fax from the first test transaction using agentic commerce carried out in our country, in which artificial intelligence doesn’t just recommend a product but actually purchases it.

A decisive step that marks the entry of AI into a new phase of e-commerce, in which intelligent agents select products, compare offers and make payments on behalf of the consumer, based on authorisations received. The trial is being led by Nexi, which had already entered into a partnership with Google Cloud back in March specifically focused on agent-based commerce. Nexi (with around 3 million POS terminals, 141 million cards in Europe and 250 banks and corporate clients supported by its services) has invested around 500 million euros a year in technology in recent years, the highest figure in Europe’s payments market. ““Agent-based commerce is not a new sales channel, but an evolution of the purchasing process,” explains Filippo Maria Signoretti, Merchant Solutions Director at Nexi Italia – “Artificial intelligence acts on behalf of the consumer, and our task is to ensure this happens effectively, securely, transparently and in compliance with European regulations.” According to Nexi’s Payment Report, the Italian market is already receptive to this innovation: almost half of consumers have used AI tools in the last 28 days to make purchases; 48 per cent have already made a purchase based on a recommendation from an intelligent assistant, and nearly six in ten Italians would use a secure payment button integrated into their conversation with the AI, without having to visit the merchant’s website. “For businesses, the technology and the way they compete are changing,” continues Signoretti. “The challenge in the future will no longer be simply to be visible on search engines, but also to be chosen by the intelligent agents that will assist consumers.” According to Nexi, over the next 12–24 months, AI will move from initial trials to concrete use cases and on to the management of after-sales services, refunds and customer support. The key issue remains one of trust: an agent-mediated payment requires verification of the agent’s identity, the user’s consent and authorisation for the transaction within the European regulatory framework, from PSD2 to the GDPR and the AI Act.