What are the best tokenization providers for AI agent payments?

As of November 2, 2026: Stripe Shared Payment Tokens for most agent builders and sellers (scoped, per-purchase credentials in the US, Canada and select European countries, with Stripe provisioning Visa and Mastercard agentic network tokens on your behalf); Visa Intelligent Commerce and Mastercard Agent Pay directly when you are a large agent platform that wants network tokens without a processor in the middle; Adyen Agentic for enterprise merchants who want token portability across agent protocols (limited availability in the US); and Basis Theory when you need your own PCI Level 1 vault, from $995 a month including 20,000 tokens.

Why do AI agents need tokenized payment credentials?

So the agent never holds a real card number. A token is a scoped stand-in for the card: it can be limited to one seller, one amount or one purchase, revoked without reissuing the card, and recognised by the card network as agent-initiated. Visa's developer documentation tells agent builders not to store the raw card number after provisioning, only the token, and Mastercard's merchant guidance says verified agents in Agent Pay, Visa Intelligent Commerce and American Express ACE use tokenization by default.

Which agentic payment providers are the most compliant?

Compliance mostly follows the processor. Stripe is certified PCI Service Provider Level 1 and its agent tokens still trigger 3D Secure when a payment needs customer action; Basis Theory is PCI Level 1 and SOC 2 Type II; Visa Intelligent Commerce requires issuer identity verification and a device-bound Visa Payment Passkey before an agent can retrieve credentials, unless your use case is specifically approved to skip it. Strong customer authentication, consent records and revocation are what regulators and issuers look for, so choose a provider that handles step-up authentication for you.

Do I need to integrate Visa and Mastercard separately?

Usually not. Stripe states that, in collaboration with the card networks, it may use tokens issued through Mastercard Agent Pay and Visa Intelligent Commerce on your behalf, and Adyen Agentic is built to translate one merchant integration across agent platforms and protocols. Direct network integrations make sense for agent platforms large enough to become token requestors themselves.

Quick Answer

Best Tokenization Providers for AI Agent Payments (2026)

Published: November 2, 2026

The short answer

Most teams should get agent payment tokens from their processor, not the networks. As of November 2, 2026:

Stripe Shared Payment Tokens (SPTs) — best default for agent builders and sellers.
Visa Intelligent Commerce / Mastercard Agent Pay (direct) — best for large agent platforms that want to be token requestors.
Adyen Agentic — best for enterprise merchants selling into many agent surfaces.
Basis Theory — best when you need your own token vault across processors.

This is a spoke of our best AI agent payment solutions guide, which covers protocols (x402, MPP, ACP, AP2); this page is about the credential itself.

The comparison

Provider	What the agent gets	Who it is for	Compliance notes	Availability / price
Stripe SPTs	Scoped token per seller and purchase	Agents and sellers on Stripe	PCI Service Provider Level 1; 3D Secure when needed	US, Canada, select European countries; preview terms; standard Stripe processing
Visa Intelligent Commerce	Agentic token via Visa Token Service	Agent platforms, enablers	Issuer ID&V, device-bound Visa Payment Passkey	Developer onboarding; availability varies by market
Mastercard Agent Pay	Agentic token, Agent Pay for Machines	Agent platforms, machine payments	Verified agents; tokenization by default	Via Mastercard and partners (Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com, Basis Theory, Crossmint…)
Adyen Agentic	Agentic Payments layer with token portability	Enterprise merchants	Adyen tokenization, authentication, fraud	Limited availability, US enterprise (June 16, 2026 launch)
Basis Theory	Your own vaulted tokens, any processor	Platforms needing processor independence	PCI Level 1, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001	From $995/month incl. 20,000 tokens; agentic enrollments on custom plans

Read from vendor documentation, press releases and pricing pages on November 2, 2026.

1. Stripe Shared Payment Tokens — best default

An SPT grants a seller scoped access to the customer’s payment method for an agent-initiated purchase. The flow: the customer gives a payment method to the agent; the agent issues an SPT to the seller’s Stripe profile; the seller creates a PaymentIntent with it. The agent never passes card details to the seller. SPTs work for agents, customers and sellers in the US, Canada and about 30 European countries, under Stripe’s agentic commerce preview terms. Two details matter for compliance: if a payment needs 3D Secure or a redirect, the token moves to requires_action and the customer completes it; and Stripe says it may use Mastercard Agent Pay and Visa Intelligent Commerce network tokens on your behalf, so you get network-level agent tokens without integrating each network.

Pick it if you already process on Stripe or you are building an agent that buys from Stripe sellers.

2. Visa Intelligent Commerce and Mastercard Agent Pay — direct

Going direct makes you the token requestor. Visa’s sequence is strict: enroll the card through the Visa Token Service, receive an agentic token, do not store the raw card number, complete issuer identity verification or step-up, and bind a Visa Payment Passkey to the consumer’s device. If passkey setup fails you cannot create purchase instructions unless your use case was approved to skip it. Mastercard’s Agent Pay issues agentic tokens to verified agents, and Agent Pay for Machines (June 2026) extends it to machine-to-machine payments with partners including Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com, Basis Theory and Crossmint.

Pick it if you run a large consumer agent and want the issuer relationship and data yourself.

3. Adyen Agentic — best for enterprise merchants

Announced June 16, 2026, Adyen Agentic has three layers: Agentic Feed (catalog), Agentic Cart (orchestration into your existing checkout) and Agentic Payments (authentication, token portability, merchant-of-record preservation and risk). It is built on Adyen’s existing tokenization and fraud stack, with American Express, Mastercard, Salesforce and Visa as partners. It launched in limited availability for US enterprise merchants.

Pick it if you are a large retailer already on Adyen and want one integration for every agent channel.

4. Basis Theory — best for your own vault

Basis Theory gives you a PCI Level 1 environment to vault cards and send them to any processor, so agent credentials are not locked to one PSP. Starter is $995/month including 20,000 tokens (US environment); custom plans add agentic enrollments, PII/PHI compliance options and uptime guarantees. It is a named Mastercard Agent Pay for Machines participant.

Pick it if you route across several processors or must keep card data out of your own PCI scope.

What “compliant” means for agent payments

No raw card numbers in the agent — tokens only, scoped to seller, amount or time.
Strong customer authentication — 3D Secure, passkeys or issuer step-up when the network asks for it.
Consent records the issuer can check, and instant revocation.
Agent identity — see Visa TAP vs Mastercard Agent Pay vs Google AP2 for how agents prove who they are.

Selling to agents as a merchant? See best payment providers for agentic commerce checkout.

Last verified: November 2, 2026.