Mastercard is building Agent Connect to link merchants, platforms and authorised AI agents. The Bundesbank has examined how agents might prepare or initiate payments under a mandate. These are developments in infrastructure, rather than a ready-made payment process for every financial firm.
For a leasing company, the first useful question comes before execution. Does the supplier on the invoice match the approved contract? Has the asset been accepted? Has the beneficiary account changed? Are all conditions for disbursement documented?
An agent could assemble those answers and draw attention to exceptions. I would keep a firm boundary around the payment itself: software prepares; authorised people review and release. Any move beyond that deserves a separate decision with precise limits and a means of stopping the agent.
The more an agent can do, the more clearly its identity, mandate and permissions need to be defined.
Could your organisation show who authorised every automated step in a payment today?
Source: https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/news-and-trends/press/2026/september/mastercard-gives-merchants-a-simpler-way-to-build–connect-and-s.html
https://publikationen.bundesbank.de/content/1007712