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Alipay's AI Wallet Agent and New Payment Tools Redefine Digital Commerce

Alipay's AI Wallet Agent and New Payment Tools Redefine Digital Commerce

At the Bund Conference, Alipay announced a major leap for AI payments: moving from simply "payable" to "trustworthy." The company introduced an AI wallet agent to help users manage every AI-driven transaction, alongside three new "AI receiving" capabilities—Vibe Pay, Skill Pay, and Machine Pay—and fresh scenarios like AI Subscription, AI Assistant Purchase, and AI Reservation.

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Building Trust with APASS

At the heart of this shift is Ant Group's APASS commercial trust infrastructure. Based on the KYA (Know Your Agent) concept, APASS verifies an agent's identity, intent, authorization, and behavior. This means AI payments can now be made with confidence, not just convenience.

Meanwhile, AI payments are breaking out of the digital realm. Gaode Momentum, Qwen Glasses, Future Smart, and even robot dogs can now complete price inquiries, orders, payments, and pickups—all under user authorization.

The AI New Economy Accelerates

As more tasks are delegated to agents, AI is evolving from a tool into a new business participant. People are moving from using AI to delegating to AI, and then to collaborating with AI. A new production, consumption, and commercial network is taking shape.

Payment is changing accordingly. According to Alipay, agent-assisted purchase tasks jumped sevenfold in the past five months, with average monthly payment frequency tripling. "AI payment is not the last step; it becomes the trustworthy commitment engine for agent-based commerce," said Han Xinyi, CEO of Ant Group.

Your AI Wallet Agent

Alipay's upcoming AI wallet agent acts as a "trusted person" in the agent world. For instance, when you ask Qwen to order a coffee, Qwen handles the "what" and "where," while the wallet agent ensures the process aligns with your intent, authorization, and budget before executing payment. It holds the full context of a transaction, linking your initial intention to the agent's execution and final results.

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Three New "AI Receiving" Capabilities

Building on its full-stack AI payment matrix, Alipay adds:

  • Vibe Pay: Developers can charge each time their AI-powered website or mini-program is used—like placing a QR code at your store's door.
  • Skill Pay: Enables protection, pricing, and collection for Skills, allowing continuous revenue when called by Agents, with one-time or subscription payments.
  • Machine Pay: Automatically charges each time an Agent uses a service, based on usage—like utility meter billing without manual monitoring.

AI Payments Enter the Real World

New scenario capabilities include:

  • AI Subscription: Users authorize agents to order goods at fixed intervals.
  • AI Assistant Purchase: Users set a target price; agents automatically order when the price drops.
  • AI Reservation: Agents place orders when a product is listed or restocked.

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AI payments are also helping new species enter commercial scenarios: Qwen AI Glasses enable iris-recognition payments; Future Smart viaim AI Earphones allow voice commands for recharging, parking fees, and coffee orders; and embodied intelligent products connect robots to the "last mile" of physical commerce. Even the Gaode Momentum robot dog "Tutu" can inquire, order, pay, and pick up—making "the dog buys for you" a reality.

APASS: The Trust Foundation

APASS solves the issue of "enabling agents to pay with trust." It establishes a dual trust chain of "identity + behavior" based on KYA, offering agent identity registration, continuous verification, intent security, and trusted evidence storage. When an agent initiates payment, the system verifies identity, intent, and authorization boundaries—executing if trustworthy, requesting confirmation if doubtful, and rejecting clear oversteps. This shifts verification from "whether a person can pay" to "who the AI is, who it is paying for, why, and whether it's authorized."

This capability will be opened to a broader ecosystem. Visa and Mastercard are jointly exploring interoperability of the KYA framework with Alipay+'s payment network, promoting connection of agent identities and trust capabilities.

ACT and AMP Collaboration

Alipay and Ant International provide an all-in-one business management system for AI professionals, covering payments in over 200 countries and regions with a single integration. Based on protocols like ACT and AMP, it serves 2 billion users and 150 million merchants worldwide.

Key Points

  • Alipay launches AI wallet agent and three new "AI receiving" capabilities: Vibe Pay, Skill Pay, and Machine Pay.
  • APASS trust infrastructure ensures AI payments are trustworthy via KYA (Know Your Agent).
  • Agent-assisted purchase tasks increased 7x in five months; monthly payment frequency tripled.
  • AI payments extend to real-world scenarios: smart glasses, earphones, and robot dogs.
  • Visa and Mastercard explore KYA interoperability with Alipay+ for global agent commerce.