Alipay Launches AI Wallet and Token Pay for Agent-Driven Commerce

Ant Group's payment platform has rolled out a suite of AI-focused payment services, positioning them as infrastructure for what the company calls the "agentic economy." The announcement came Tuesday as part of a broader push to serve businesses ranging from AI startups to established retailers.

The centerpiece is a wallet designed to give users transparency and control over purchases made by AI agents acting on their behalf. Alongside it, the company introduced Token Pay, a solution tailored for AI companies' recurring payment needs — think global subscriptions or token top-ups within agent interfaces.

To address concerns about autonomous agent transactions, Alipay launched China's first Agentic Commerce Trust Protocol in collaboration with partners. The protocol establishes what the company describes as a "common language" enabling AI systems and service platforms to work together reliably.

The platform also deployed an intelligent security system specifically for AI-driven payments, aiming to provide foundational safeguards for every transaction initiated by an agent. The security layer runs underneath the wallet and payment processing.

Cyril Han, CEO of Ant Group, framed the shift as a fundamental change in how commerce operates. "While the essence of commerce remains unchanged in the age of AI, the emergence of AI agents is reshaping everything," he said in a statement.

"Drawing on 22 years of technological expertise and commercial know-how, Alipay is building a new generation of AI payment services to accelerate the growth of the agentic commerce ecosystem," Han added.

Lin Zhu, general manager of Alipay's AI payment business, positioned payments as more than a checkout step. "As AI agents begin helping people search for information, shop, order food, and even make money, payments are no longer just the 'final step' — they are becoming a capability embedded from the very beginning," Zhu stated. "Only when trusted transactions, seamless payments and secure controls are all in place can agentic commerce truly take off."

The launch arrives as many retailers lack the infrastructure to handle AI agent transactions. According to a PYMNTS report from earlier this week, most merchants have not adapted their systems for autonomous shoppers.

"AI agents do not browse, do not click, and do not read product descriptions written for humans," the report noted. "They query, evaluate and transact in seconds. Merchants whose infrastructure is not built to receive them are not losing sales to a better price. They are losing sales before the agent ever decides to compare."

The gap suggests a near-term opportunity for payment platforms that can bridge the divide between agent-driven commerce and legacy retail systems.