RBA Flags Unclear Liability in AI Agent Payments
Australia's central bank says responsibility for AI agents that exceed their authority is unclear among merchants, payment providers and card issuers.
Australia's Reserve Bank has flagged unclear liability for transactions carried out by AI agents, in a payments consultation summary it published on the 6th. According to digitaltoday.co.kr, the bank said responsibility for AI agents that exceed their authority is unclear among merchants, payment service providers and card issuers.
The RBA also noted cases in which AI-assisted purchases carry an extra 4% cost.
The warning lands as payment infrastructure for AI agents expands. Amazon's Bedrock AgentCore Payments lets AI agents find and pay for paid services using Coinbase and Stripe payment infrastructure, within preset limits via stablecoins and the x402 protocol. Shopify is moving to allow payments from browser-based AI shopping agents.
Several industry efforts rely on similar controls. Google's AP2, Mastercard's Agent Pay and Visa's Intelligent Commerce use signed delegation data, tokenized credentials, spending limits and agent identity verification.
Dispute and complaint volumes in focus
Mastercard projects 324 million chargebacks worldwide by 2028, with US merchants facing $128 per-case processing costs in 2026. In 2025, the CFPB received 6.6 million complaints, double the previous figure, and warned that LLMs and autonomous software could mass-submit duplicate complaints.
Quick answers
What did Australia's Reserve Bank say about AI agent payments?
In a payments consultation summary published on the 6th, the RBA said responsibility for AI agents exceeding their authority is unclear among merchants, payment service providers and card issuers. It also noted cases where AI-assisted purchases carry an extra 4% cost.
Which companies offer AI agent payment systems?
Amazon's Bedrock AgentCore Payments uses Coinbase and Stripe infrastructure. Google's AP2, Mastercard's Agent Pay and Visa's Intelligent Commerce use signed delegation data, tokenized credentials, spending limits and agent identity verification, and Shopify is moving to allow payments from browser-based AI shopping agents.
How large are AI-related payment disputes expected to be?
Mastercard projects 324 million chargebacks worldwide by 2028, with US merchants facing $128 per-case processing costs in 2026.