Summary
The Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) has launched an APAC working group with founding member HSBC to address liability, identity, and fraud risks in agentic payments — payments initiated by AI agents on behalf of consumers and businesses. The group will bring together banks, payment networks, fintechs, and technology platforms to develop common standards across APAC.
APAC currently lacks an agreed framework for determining liability when an AI agent exceeds its mandate or a transaction goes wrong. The group's work will cover agent identity, authentication, authorization, and liability, alongside commercial models and practical guidance. Recommendations will be developed through an 18-month engagement process with ASEAN and APEC governments, regulators, and central banks, with formal policy proposals expected at the 51st ASEAN Summit and APEC Economic Leaders' Week in November 2027.
Key Facts
- Initiative: EPAA AI & Agentic Payments Working Group
- Founding member: HSBC
- Scope: APAC region; banks, payment networks, fintechs, technology platforms
- Problem: no agreed standard for liability when AI agent exceeds mandate
- Coverage: agent identity, authentication, authorization, liability, commercial models
- Timeline: 18-month engagement with ASEAN and APEC governments
- Policy proposals: November 2027 (51st ASEAN Summit, APEC Economic Leaders' Week)
- Committee: 10-12 organizations; working group: up to 30 organizations
- Applications: open to EPAA members; close November 2026
- Context: HSBC + Mastercard tested B2B agentic commerce in May 2026 (Singapore)
- Alipay's AI Pay: exceeded 120M autonomous transactions in single week (February 2026)
- CEO Camilla Bullock: "organizations that help build these frameworks now will shape how agentic commerce works across Asia Pacific for the next decade"
- HSBC's Nicholas Soo: "building the foundations required for agentic commerce to take flight"
Why It Matters
Agentic payments — where AI agents initiate transactions autonomously — represent one of the most significant emerging challenges in payments infrastructure. The absence of liability frameworks, identity standards, and fraud detection tools for AI-initiated transactions creates a regulatory vacuum that could slow adoption. APAC, with its mix of advanced digital payment markets and regulatory diversity, is the natural proving ground for these standards. The 18-month timeline to November 2027 means the industry has a concrete deadline to establish the rules of the road.