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🛡️ Visa’s New Protocol Could Be the Key to Safe AI Shopping—Here’s What You Need to Know
The AI Shopping Surge Is Here—But Can We Trust It?
In the past year, AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail websites has surged by over 4,700%, according to Adobe data cited by Visa. This explosive growth has introduced a new challenge for merchants: distinguishing between legitimate AI shopping assistants and malicious bots. Traditional bot detection systems, designed to block automated traffic, now risk inadvertently blocking genuine AI shoppers.
To address this, Visa has unveiled its Trusted Agent Protocol (TAP), a security framework aimed at verifying AI agents and ensuring safe transactions in the evolving landscape of “agentic commerce.”
What Is the Trusted Agent Protocol?
The Trusted Agent Protocol is a cryptographic framework that enables merchants to verify the authenticity of AI agents interacting with their websites. When an AI agent visits a merchant’s site, it presents a digital signature containing three key pieces of information:
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Agent Intent: Indicates the agent’s purpose, such as retrieving product details or making a purchase.
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Consumer Recognition: Shows whether the underlying consumer has an existing account with the merchant.
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Payment Information: Optional data to support checkout.
Merchants validate these signatures against Visa’s registry of approved agents, ensuring that the AI agent is trustworthy and authorized to interact with their site.
Why It Matters for Merchants
The rise of AI shopping assistants presents both opportunities and challenges for retailers. While 85% of shoppers report improved experiences when using AI for shopping, merchants face the risk of fraud and the potential loss of legitimate AI-driven traffic. Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol offers a solution by providing a standardized method for verifying AI agents, reducing the risk of fraud, and ensuring a seamless shopping experience for consumers.
Glossary
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Agentic Commerce: A term describing the practice of consumers delegating shopping tasks to AI agents that can autonomously search products, compare prices, and complete purchases.
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Cryptographic Trust Handshake: A process where AI agents present a digital signature to prove their identity and intent, allowing merchants to verify their authenticity.
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Digital Signature: A cryptographic credential that proves the identity of an AI agent, ensuring secure interactions between the agent and merchants.
The Future of AI Shopping
Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol represents a significant step toward securing the future of AI-driven commerce. By providing a standardized and secure method for verifying AI agents, Visa is helping to build trust between merchants and consumers in the rapidly evolving landscape of agentic commerce.
As AI continues to play a larger role in consumer shopping behaviors, initiatives like the Trusted Agent Protocol will be crucial in ensuring safe and seamless transactions for all parties involved.
Source: Visa just launched a protocol to secure the AI shopping boom — here’s what it means for merchants
