MUMBAI: Pine Labs has launched India’s first agent-to-agent payment capability, enabling autonomous transactions through artificial intelligence by extending UPI’s standing mandate framework to machines, according to a company announcement on Thursday.
The Pine Labs Payment Protocol (P3P) allows users to authorise a onetime mandate that can be delegated to an AI agent, which can then independently decide when to execute a payment based on predefined conditions and negotiations with a counter-party agent. The move removes the need for human authentication at the point of transaction, a longstanding limitation in digital payments.
Deployments and Use Cases
The launch was demonstrated in partnership with Gullak, a digital gold savings platform, where users can instruct an AI agent to purchase gold automatically when prices fall to a specified level. Once the mandate is approved, the agent monitors price movements and completes the transaction without requiring further user intervention. A deployment is also underway with Vijay Sales, where customers can set target prices for electronic goods and deploy AI agents to strike a deal when their target price is achieved, turning price discovery and purchase into a continuous, machine-driven process.
| Partner | Use Case | Agent Role |
|---|---|---|
| Gullak (digital gold savings) | Auto-purchase gold at target price | Monitor gold prices, execute buy order |
| Vijay Sales (electronics retailer) | Buy electronics when target price reached | Negotiate and pay at predetermined price |
Technology and Controls
P3P builds on UPI’s existing mandate architecture, including one-time mandates and block-and-debit frameworks, to enable what Pine Labs describes as “agentic commerce”, where software agents can browse, negotiate and pay on behalf of users. The system incorporates controls such as spending limits, identity verification and audit trails.
Implications for International Trade
While the immediate application targets domestic retail and gold savings, the underlying agent-to-agent payment capability has potential for cross-border trade scenarios where autonomous agents could negotiate and settle small-value payments without human oversight. Importers and exporters using UPI-linked platforms may eventually leverage such protocols for automated procurement or spot-market transactions. However, the announcement does not specify international deployment or currency support; the current framework operates within India’s UPI ecosystem.
What to Watch
The rollout with Vijay Sales and Gullak will test consumer adoption of autonomous payments. Pine Labs’ next steps regarding API availability for third-party developers and cross-border payment integration will determine the protocol’s relevance for global trade finance.
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