The checkout page is dying.

AI agents that can find, book, and pay for things are coming. But how will they actually pay?

These are the 4 models👇 Each more autonomous than the last.

A breakdown of how AI agents will pay for things:

Model 1: Human-in-the-loop 🔁

Your AI finds a hotel, but freezes at checkout.

• "I found these options... please enter your card details."
• The magic breaks at payment - like early screen-scraping fintech.
• This is what OpenAI's Operator does today.

Model 2: Stored credentials with approval 💳 ✅

• Your AI can access your saved payment methods but needs explicit permission.
• "I found a $199 room at the Hilton. Approve payment with card ending in 4242?"
• Better UX, but still requires human intervention for every transaction.

Model 3: Virtual cards with controls 💳🎮

• Your AI has a payment method with defined limits.
• "I've booked your room using a virtual card within your $250 budget."
• Stripe is already enabling this flow

Model 4: Autonomous wallet 🤖

• Your AI controls a programmable wallet (think stablecoins).
• No checkout flow. No card details. Just seamless transactions.
• We have a lot to figure out before this is possible (e.g. fraud? wallets?)

This is the holy grail - ambient payments controlled by your agents.

The B2B opportunity may be even bigger:

• Corporate travel booking within policy • Procurement with spending controls (Model 3) • Treasury management across borders (Model 4)

Businesses will adopt these models faster than consumers.

The most fascinating frontier? Agent-to-agent payments.

• Imagine your shopping agent negotiating directly with merchant agents:

•Comparing features • Requesting discounts • Finalizing deals

This would transform market dynamics but requires much more infrastructure.

We're witnessing the collision of two massive trends:

The rise of AI agents x The evolution of programmable money

The winners will be those who deploy the right model for the right context.

What's your take?

Author

AiUTOMATING PEOPLE, ABN ASIA was founded by people with deep roots in academia, with work experience in the US, Holland, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam. ABN Asia is where academia and technology meet opportunity. With our cutting-edge solutions and competent software development services, we're helping businesses level up and take on the global scene. Our commitment: Faster. Better. More reliable. In most cases: Cheaper as well.

Feel free to reach out to us whenever you require IT services, digital consulting, off-the-shelf software solutions, or if you'd like to send us requests for proposals (RFPs). You can contact us at [email protected]. We're ready to assist you with all your technology needs.

© ABN ASIA