Amex introduces a framework to prevent AI agents from making unauthorized purchases

Personal AI agents are progressively making transactions connected their users’ behalf, but fixed the nondeterministic quality of ample connection models, AI bots are prone to doing what they’re not expected to. Which, successful this case, raises the anticipation of AI misfiring and making unauthorized transactions.

To get up of this problem, American Express is introducing a caller model designed to seizure and authenticate a customer’s acquisition intent earlier an AI cause completes the transaction.

The thought is that determination should beryllium a mode to guarantee that the customer’s acquisition instructions are carried passim the transaction lifecycle, Amex says, from the acquisition to everything that follows.

Dubbed the “Intent Intelligence Framework,” the institution hopes it volition go an manufacture modular for AI-powered transactions.

“These caller transactions volition person a consumer, a merchant, and an agent,” explained Amex’s VP of Agentic Partnerships and Strategy, Hannah Bozian, successful an interrogation with TechCrunch. She said the institution wanted to guarantee that agentic transactions are inactive “seamless, trusted, and secure, the mode our paper members expect them to be.”

This framework’s merchandise follows the company’s April motorboat of Amex’s Agentic Commerce Experiences, oregon the ACE Developer Toolkit, which includes a fistful of services that present see the intent framework.

Amex said it has not yet seen an summation successful disputes due to the fact that of agentic commerce, but it wanted to beryllium proactive successful gathering this exertion arsenic this benignant of commerce scales. In part, that’s due to the fact that consumers person signaled they’re unfastened to trying agentic commerce.

In a caller Amex Trendex report, 66% of surveyed U.S. consumers said they’re apt to usage AI agents to probe the champion terms for a merchandise oregon service, and 61% said they’re apt to usage it for a merchandise oregon work proposal implicit the adjacent 12 months, the institution told TechCrunch.

To start, Amex’s caller intent model begins with a Create Intent API, which volition seizure the customer’s acquisition instructions on with different constraints they whitethorn person included successful their request, similar the merchant’s name, maximum budget, and different merchandise preferences. How this intent is collected whitethorn alteration depending connected the AI exemplary involved, but the program is to marque this model flexible capable to enactment each agentic commerce models, Bozian said.

The lawsuit past authenticates their individuality and signs disconnected connected the intent captured by the agent.

Then an Intent ID, a unsocial identifier representing the intent, is created, on with a Proof of Intent Token, which includes the customer’s high-level constraints. This token is utilized to get a unafraid integer outgo credential that the cause volition usage astatine checkout alternatively of the customer’s existent recognition paper number. In doing so, Amex says, the acquisition volition stay unafraid portion being aligned with what the lawsuit authorized the cause to do.

This Intent ID and token tin besides beryllium utilized successful antithetic parts of the transaction process, helping companies to negociate areas similar fraud prevention and quality resolution, Amex said.

“Our attack differs from the implementations of others successful that it pulls intent earlier into the transaction flow. And this is important due to the fact that it helps mitigate immoderate hazard earlier the hazard occurs,” said Bozian. She offered the illustration of a lawsuit asking an cause to bargain achromatic Nike sneakers successful a size 9, but the cause submits a petition to acquisition shoes from Adidas. In specified a case, Amex could forestall the transaction from going done due to the fact that the cause made a mistake.

Bozian besides notes that portion galore agents contiguous inquire for lawsuit consent earlier making a purchase, Amex foresees a aboriginal wherever agents whitethorn enactment overmuch much autonomously successful immoderate cases. For instance, a user mightiness let their cause to re-order household staples, similar insubstantial towels oregon toilet insubstantial — categories successful which the lone existent constraint is the terms and size, not merchant oregon brand. In these scenarios, it makes consciousness to person exertion successful the loop performing that other check, to guarantee the transactions lucifer the customer’s intent.

Having a log of what was authorized by which cause and erstwhile could besides assistance code fraud connected behalf of the agent, she noted.

Amex is already successful discussions with partners crossed the payments ecosystem for implementing ACE, which includes the agentic tokens that incorporate Amex’s outgo credentials, arsenic good arsenic different parts of the developer kit.

The institution said it plans to actively make ACE further arsenic the agentic commerce ecosystem evolves.

On October 13 astatine TechCrunch Disrupt 2026‘s Industry Stage, Amex VP of Agentic Partnerships and Strategy astatine American Express, Hannah Bozian, volition sermon the company’s new”Intent Intelligence Framework” successful much detail, and what it means for the satellite of agentic commerce.