Six global banks — Bank of America, ING, NatWest, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ASB Bank and Capital One — published joint principles for “trusted agentic commerce” on September 22, 2026. The announcement says industry standards for AI shopping agents have not kept pace with the technology being built around them.
What changed
The six banks agreed on five principles they say should guide how AI agents shop and pay on a customer’s behalf:
- Transparency — customers can understand what an agent is doing on their behalf.
- Safety — transactions are secured and fraud is prevented.
- Privacy and data — customer information is protected.
- Choice — customers keep control over their payments.
- Interoperability — systems from different providers work together.
The principles are voluntary, not a regulation or a technical standard. Per ING, the banks are “inviting merchants, technology providers and other financial institutions to help turn these principles into practical standards.” The six banks describe it as a joint effort.
What it means for you
If you shop with an AI assistant: the banks are naming open questions — how you’ll know what an agent bought and why, and how you keep a say over your own payments. Nothing changes in agentic checkout today. See our explainer on agentic commerce risks and our guide to setting spending limits for AI agents.
If you run a small shop: your bank or processor may eventually expect you to meet transparency and security standards before letting agents buy on your site. This sits alongside the Visa/Mastercard/Ant “Know Your Agent” framework, a technical protocol rather than a set of principles. If an agent-driven order goes wrong, see who pays when an AI agent buys the wrong thing.
