By Sachin Mohan · AIM Media House
American Express announced on April 14 the launch of its Agentic Commerce Experiences (ACE) Developer Kit, a framework that gives developers the technical specifications to bring American Express-issued cards and membership value into AI-powered transactions across its network.
The announcement positions the company as one of the first major payment networks to build dedicated infrastructure for agentic commerce, a category in which AI agents execute purchases, bookings, and other transactions on behalf of users without requiring manual confirmation at each step, according to the press release.
The ACE Developer Kit provides select developers with access to five integrated services. Agent Registration verifies AI agents so only trusted agents are authorised to transact on the American Express network.
Account Enablement allows card members to register their cards for agentic transactions and enable personalised membership experiences. Intent Intelligence ensures card member purchase intent is accurately captured to support authentication, authorisation, and dispute resolution.
Payment Credentials enable verified AI agents to complete payments on behalf of a card member using tokenised credentials. Cart Context supports the sharing of cart details before or after a transaction to enhance validation and dispute investigations.
Agent Registration and Cart Context are noted in the announcement as still under development. "AI agents are beginning to reshape how people discover products and services, plan travel and dining, and make purchases," said Luke Gebb , Executive Vice President and Head of Global Innovation at American Express.
"Card Members and Merchants will expect the same level of trust and security that they always relied on from American Express." Alongside the developer kit, American Express announced Amex Agent Purchase Protection, which it describes as an industry-first commitment.
Under this protection, if a card member authorises a registered AI agent to make a purchase and that agent sends American Express the customer's authenticated purchase intent, American Express will protect eligible customers from charges related to AI agent error.
Continue on AIM Media House