American Express has launched a new framework designed to prevent AI agents from making unauthorized purchases on behalf of consumers. The "Intent Intelligence Framework" aims to capture and authenticate a customer's purchase intent early in the transaction lifecycle, ensuring that instructions are carried through to completion.
According to Amex, the framework is intended to become an industry standard for AI-powered transactions, which involve a consumer, a merchant, and an AI agent. Hannah Bozian, Amex's VP of Agentic Partnerships and Strategy, stated that the company wants to ensure these transactions remain seamless, trusted, and secure.
This initiative follows the company's April launch of the ACE Developer Toolkit. Amex has not yet observed an increase in disputes related to agentic commerce but is proactively developing the technology as this form of commerce scales. Consumer interest in agentic commerce is growing, with a recent Amex Trendex report indicating that 66% of surveyed U.S. consumers are likely to use AI agents for price research and 61% for recommendations within the next 12 months.
The framework begins with a Create Intent API that captures customer instructions, including merchant preferences, budget limits, and other constraints. Customers then authenticate their identity and approve the captured intent. This process generates a unique Intent ID and a Proof of Intent Token, which is used to obtain a secure digital payment credential for the AI agent, replacing the customer's actual credit card number. Amex believes this approach mitigates risk by verifying intent earlier in the transaction flow, preventing potential errors like an agent purchasing from the wrong brand.
Bozian noted that while many agents currently require explicit consent, future autonomous agents might re-order staples without specific instructions, making an in-loop technology check crucial. Amex is in discussions with partners to implement ACE and plans to continue developing it as the agentic commerce ecosystem evolves. Bozian is scheduled to discuss the framework in more detail at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 on October 13.
