Merchants and Agent Checkout

Question 1

How do merchants know which agent and which user made a purchase?

Accepted Answer

From what the agent presents: a signed request identifying the agent, as under Web Bot Auth or Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, a payment token issued for that agent and, with the user's consent, identifiers that let the merchant recognize the customer. AP2 mandates can also show which user authorized the purchase.

Question 2

How should merchants prepare for AI shopping agents?

Accepted Answer

Make your catalog machine-readable, offer interfaces agents can use, recognize trusted agents instead of blocking them, and decide how you verify agent orders. Our post covers how merchants can prepare.

Question 3

How do you accept payments from AI agents on your website?

Accepted Answer

Support the routes agents use: a checkout API such as ACP, with delegated payments through your existing processor; card network agent programs that let verified agents pay with tokens; and x402 for pay-per-request access. Recognize trusted agents through their signed requests, so your bot defenses do not block them.

Question 4

Should merchants block or allow AI agents at checkout?

Accepted Answer

Allow verified agents and block the rest. Unknown bots still deserve suspicion, but agents that sign their requests with keys you can check, through Web Bot Auth or Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, can be let through safely. Blocking every agent means losing customers who now shop through one.

Question 5

How do you charge AI agents for API access?

Accepted Answer

Use x402. Your API answers unpaid requests with 402 Payment Required and a price, the agent pays and retries with proof of payment, and you serve the response. Middleware for common frameworks handles the flow, and a facilitator can verify and settle the payments. Agents then pay per call without setting up an account.

Question 6

How do you put a paywall in front of an API for AI agents?

Accepted Answer

Add x402 middleware to the routes you want to charge for, set a price per request, the network and your receiving address, and connect a facilitator to verify and settle payments. Unpaid requests get 402 Payment Required with payment details, and paid ones go through. Test it on a testnet before launch.

Question 7

How does fraud screening change when the buyer is an AI agent?

Accepted Answer

Signals designed for people, such as mouse movement and browser fingerprints, stop being useful, and legitimate agent traffic can be mistaken for bots. Screening shifts to verifying the agent's identity and signature, the token it pays with, the user's authorization and whether the order fits that user's history.

Question 8

What is agent-ready checkout?

Accepted Answer

An agent-ready checkout is one an AI agent can complete without a human interface: a documented API for creating and completing orders, structured product and price data, payment methods agents can use, such as delegated tokens, and recognition of verified agents instead of bot blocking. ACP defines one such checkout interface.

Question 9

Do AI agents break existing CAPTCHA and bot defenses at checkout?

Accepted Answer

Yes. CAPTCHAs and bot defenses were built to stop automation, so they block legitimate agents along with bad bots, and classifying traffic by user agent or IP address is easily spoofed. Cryptographic agent authentication, such as Web Bot Auth, lets merchants admit verified agents while still challenging unknown automation.

Question 10

How do merchants handle returns on agent-made orders?

Accepted Answer

Like any order: refund to the original payment method under your normal return policy, and tie the return to the user, not the agent. Publish return terms in a machine-readable form so agents can check them before buying, and keep the agent's order records in case the user disputes what was ordered.

Question 11

What data should a merchant receive with an agent payment?

Accepted Answer

The order details and payment credential, plus enough context to trust them: which agent placed the order, evidence that it is verified, the user it acts for when they consent to share it and, ideally, proof of the user's authorization, such as an AP2 mandate. Shipping and contact details arrive as in any order.

Question 12

How do payment service providers onboard agent platforms as merchants?

Accepted Answer

Agent platforms are usually not the merchant: in ACP, the merchant remains the system of record and charges through its own payment provider. Where a platform does take payments for sellers, providers onboard it like any marketplace, with due diligence on the platform and its sellers, since marketplaces carry responsibility for seller fraud.

Question 13

How do merchants verify an agent's mandate at checkout?

Accepted Answer

Check the mandate's signature and issuer, that it is still valid, that it covers this merchant, item and amount, and that it has not already been used. AP2's Checkout and Payment Mandates are designed for this kind of verification, and in ACP the delegated token's allowance does the same job for the payment.

Question 14

Should merchants charge different fees for agent transactions?

Accepted Answer

Only where card network rules and local law allow it. Agent payments are still card or account payments, so the usual surcharge and fee rules apply; Visa, for example, requires merchants to notify their acquirer before they start surcharging. Base any difference on real costs, and disclose it clearly to the customer.

Question 15

How do merchants opt in to agentic commerce protocols?

Accepted Answer

Implement the protocol's merchant side. For ACP, expose the checkout API, accept delegated payment tokens through your payment provider and publish product feeds; for x402, add the middleware to paid routes; for card network agent programs, work with your acquirer. Then register with the agent platforms you want to sell through.

Question 16

What is an agent-readable return policy?

Accepted Answer

An agent-readable return policy is one published as structured data an agent can parse, covering the return window, conditions, fees, refund method and how to start a return, instead of prose alone on a web page. Agents can then check the terms before buying, and product feeds such as ACP's can link to them.