Agentic Retail Payments - When AI Agents Execute Transactions Autonomously

As Japan moves deeper into a “do it for me” style of economy, retail payments are beginning to shift from transactions initiated directly by consumers to payments executed on their behalf. Digital services are increasingly being authorised to manage recurring bills, subscriptions, travel arrangements, and everyday purchases – selecting merchants, initiating payments, and operating directly on real-time payment infrastructure.
This roundtable examines the transition from direct consumer action to delegated execution, and the implications this shift has for policy, consumer protection, and payments infrastructure. Using a realistic Japanese retail use case as its foundation, the discussion explores what changes when transactions are carried out without an explicit, real-time action by the consumer, including emerging risk profiles, new avenues for misuse, and evolving regulatory considerations.
Participants will consider the core questions that payment providers, regulators, and market operators now need to address: who is recognised as the payer when execution is delegated; how authority, limits, and revocation should be structured and enforced; where liability sits when delegated arrangements are misused or result in consumer harm; and what forms of evidence are required to support disputes, refunds, and redress. Set against the backdrop of Japan’s instant payment infrastructure, the session aims to outline practical policy and market considerations for enabling delegated retail payments at scale, while maintaining trust, efficiency, and strong consumer protection.