American Express to Back Purchases Made by Customers’ AI Agents

American Express plans to extend its customer protection to registered artificial intelligence (AI) agent purchases.

In the future, with Amex Agent Purchase Protection, the company will protect eligible customers from charges related to AI agent error if the card member has authorized an AI agent to make a purchase and that agent sends American Express the customer’s authenticated purchase intent, the company said in a Tuesday (April 14) press release.

“As commerce becomes more agent-powered, trust becomes the defining factor,” Luke Gebb, executive vice president and head of global innovation at American Express, said in the release. “Our goal is to ensure that when an agent acts on a Card Member’s behalf, the identities of both the human and the agent are authenticated and the intent is clear — so that every Amex-enabled transaction reflects the backing and seamless experience that define our brand.”

American Express also announced in the release that it is introducing an agentic commerce developer kit that provides technical specifications to bring American Express-issued cards and membership value into AI-powered interactions.

The company’s Agentic Commerce Experiences (ACE) developer kit is designed for interoperability with existing and emerging protocols. It will provide developers with access to agent registration, account enablement, intent intelligence, payment credentials and cart context, according to the release.

“As [AI agent] capabilities evolve, Card Members and Merchants will expect the same level of trust and security that they always relied on from American Express,” Gebb said in the release. “The ACE Developer Kit enables this in AI-powered commerce.”

American Express Chairman and CEO Stephen J. Squeri wrote in a letter to shareholders released March 25 that the company expects to capitalize on agentic commerce by enabling purchasing power, delivering service and ensuring security for both consumers and merchants.

The company is already participating in agentic commerce by working with AI companies to complete AI-assisted transactions and develop standards and protocols for agentic payments, Squeri wrote. The ACE developer kit will enable partners to integrate its payment capabilities into their agentic experiences, he added.

“The winners in this new paradigm will go well beyond basic payment functionality by offering differentiated value, service and security,” Squeri wrote.

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