Mastercard tests agentic AI commerce in Canada

Mastercard announced Canada's first deployment of an agentic commerce transaction alongside Flybits and Rogers Bank on September 21, 2026. The milestone used the global Mastercard Agent Pay framework to test safeguards, governance principles and industry standards for automated purchases.

During the test, an artificial intelligence assistant powered by Flybits acted on instructions from a Rogers Red credit cardholder. The assistant found an eligible product within a pre-set budget and finalized the transaction through Mastercard Agent Pay under predefined spending limits.

According to August 2026 Mastercard survey data covering 2,000 Canadian adults, 41% of respondents are open to using artificial intelligence assistants for online shopping. Among those with positive views toward shopping assistants, 53% expressed openness to automated purchases constrained by pre-set preferences and spending caps.

Flybits plans to integrate Mastercard Insight Tokens in future phases. The tool provides a governed method for artificial intelligence agents to access permissioned consumer data with user consent.