AMP: How Can Agents Work with Mobile Wallets and Merchants?

You ask a shopping agent to buy a travel service using an existing mobile payment account. The agent can find an offer, but must also connect product, checkout terms, user authorization and payment credentials across different systems.

Ant International’s open-source Agentic Mobile Protocol (AMP) explores this connection among shopping agents, merchants, credential providers, payment networks, acquirers and mobile payment providers. It is a protocol and example framework, not a standalone wallet or evidence that every participant supports it commercially. AMP repository

Based on public specification and repository examples reviewed October 30, 2026. Travel service, amounts and participants are hypothetical; we did not run the examples, integrate a mobile wallet or test a real payment.

A possible purchase path

Suppose the user requests a travel service under $50 using a linked payment method. This diagram simplifies the example roles and is not the only possible message order.

flowchart LR U[User sets task and budget] --> A[Shopping agent searches and selects] A --> M[Merchant prepares checkout] A --> C[Credential and authorization service] C --> P[Mobile payment provider authorizes and pays] M --> N[Acquirer and payment network process] P --> N N --> R[Return transaction result and record]

The repository distinguishes user-present and user-not-present examples. The first may require confirmation during purchase; the second establishes available authorization according to the example before the agent continues within its terms. Actual conditions, authentication and revocation depend on implementation. Examples

Who does what?

Role	Example responsibility	What not to infer
Shopping agent	Understand task and drive search, checkout and payment	Unlimited control of the account
Merchant	Offer product, prepare checkout and initiate merchant-side payment	Every merchant automatically supports AMP
Credential provider	Register payment method and create or query authorization sessions	It alone settles all funds
Mobile payment provider	User authorization, authentication and payment in the example	Every mobile wallet supports the example
Acquirer and network	Identify, route and coordinate payment requests	Every region and network is supported

MPP in AMP’s examples means Mobile Payment Provider, not Stripe and Tempo’s Machine Payments Protocol. They share an acronym but are different concepts.

Authorization records and credentials

An agent may buy while the user is not watching, so systems need to express what was authorized and whether the purchase qualifies. The AMP repository includes shared authorization-chain generation and verification modules and example services for authorization lifecycle and budget deduction. Roles check information according to their responsibility; review the specification version for data structures and trust boundaries. Repository

A natural-language command does not automatically become a reliable spending restriction. Verify who creates and checks authorization, which conditions are enforced, who controls keys and how failed requests are recorded.

Relationship to AP2, UCP and wallets

Name	Main focus	Boundary
AMP	How example roles connect agent shopping to mobile payment	Open specifications and examples do not establish universal commercial launch
AP2	Expressing and verifying agent transaction authorization	Authorization records are not funded accounts
UCP	Commerce participants coordinating checkout and other flows	A commerce protocol does not automatically complete payment
Mobile wallet	The user’s account or payment tool	Verify support for the particular integration

Whether AMP works with a particular AP2 or UCP implementation requires checking versions, APIs and participant integrations; names alone do not establish compatibility.

Questions for developers and merchants

Is integration with an example mobile payment provider, a specific merchant or a network?
Where do confirmation and authentication occur, and what constrains user-not-present purchases?
Which budget, expiry and merchant rules are enforceable?
How are authorizations and records updated after failure or cancellation?
Are the region, payment method and environment supported?

AMP is a framework for understanding mobile-payment collaboration. Real payment requires actual participants, agreements, integration, security testing and regional support. See the AMP project profile.