Banco Santander and Mastercard have jointly announced the successful completion of Europe’s first live end-to-end payment executed by an artificial intelligence (AI) agent. This landmark event is the first agentic payment conducted within a regulated banking framework, marking a significant advancement in the deployment of AI systems capable of autonomously initiating and completing financial transactions on behalf of customers.

Matías Sánchez, global head of Cards and Digital Solutions at Santander, said, “At Santander, we see AI as a transformative force in the evolution of payments. Our role is not only to adopt innovation, but to shape it responsibly, embedding security, governance and customer protection by design. As AI agents become part of everyday commerce, building trusted, scalable frameworks will be essential to unlocking their full potential.”

A milestone in AI-driven payments

The transaction was carried out by Santander in a controlled environment using Mastercard Agent Pay technology. It was processed through Santander’s live payments infrastructure, validating the operational and control framework under real-world conditions. 

This solution empowers AI agents to initiate and execute payments within predefined limits and permissions, ensuring secure and transparent completion of purchases via existing payment networks.

Santander’s successful pilot confirms the bank’s technical and operational readiness to support emerging AI-driven transaction models. 

The company will move into extended testing and scaling, examining new use cases and partnerships while ensuring strong controls, resilience, and compliance with regulations.

Integrating AI into payment networks

Mastercard Agent Pay uses AI agents to facilitate seamless interactions between issuers, acquirers, and merchants in the payment process.

This innovation supports AI-driven commerce while ensuring security and trust, which have always been central to Mastercard’s network.

Kelly Devine, President, Europe at Mastercard, said, “Agentic payments represent a profound shift in how commerce is initiated and executed. With Mastercard Agent Pay, we are applying the same principles that have defined our network for decades — security, trust, interoperability and global scale — to a new era of AI-enabled commerce. This milestone with Banco Santander demonstrates that innovation and trust can advance together.”

Mastercard’s PayOS platform managed the entire payment process, ensuring end-to-end management of the payment process.

The next steps 

The pilot was conducted entirely within Santander’s regulated payment framework and does not represent a commercial rollout at this stage. 

This initiative highlights the need to integrate AI innovation into current regulatory and operational standards. This helps maintain consumer confidence and keeps the financial system secure.

Looking ahead, Santander and Mastercard intend to expand testing and explore further applications of AI-driven payments. This includes scaling the technology, broadening use cases, and fostering partnerships that align with evolving regulatory landscapes and market demands.