REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 20, 2026 – The U.S. Payments Forum is tapping into industry trends in its 2026 spring market snapshot. The report includes insights from top payment organizations gathered during the Forum’s Spring Member Meeting in Houston, Texas, co-located with the Secure Technology Alliance’s Identity & Payments Summit. This snapshot explores the growing pressure to make agentic commerce feasible across the payments ecosystem, tokenization’s expanding operational challenges and the need to rethink authentication as fraudsters test the limits of biometrics and digital identity.
Agentic commerce’s accountability conundrum
Agentic commerce is swiftly becoming one of the payments industry’s most widely discussed technological advancements. At the Forum member meeting, speakers from Bank of America said that while protocols and pilots are advancing, questions remain around whether the rest of the ecosystem can contextualize what happens during agentic transactions and who is responsible when something goes wrong. As AI companies, merchants, issuers and networks develop their own approaches, market risks are becoming fragmented before common standards are set around agentic AI intent, consent and dispute workflows. For example, when users hand over their payment credentials to AI agents, it creates new avenues for ‘friendly fraud’. Many in attendance question how much liability will be on the LLM company when users inevitably begin accusing agents of making purchases they did not approve of, resulting in an influx of chargebacks for Merchants, Issuers and Networks.
Forum members agreed that the next phase of agentic commerce will rely heavily on developing better ways to capture and preserve consumer intent throughout the transaction lifecycle, especially in fully autonomous or agent-to-agent environments. Merchants in attendance also raised concerns about potential impacts to direct customer relationships as agents begin influencing product selection and checkout decisions, echoing today’s marketplace shopping experiences that include sponsored product placement. What guardrails will be in place to ensure that LLMs do not exclude smaller retailers entirely during search and recommendation processes?
Tokenization shifts to lifecycle management
During the Forum meeting, Bank of America and SHAZAM discussed how token usage has expanded beyond its initial role as a security measure, adding new layers of complexity. Tokens are no longer confined to a single device or wallet. They now operate across a wider digital payments ecosystem. This includes card-on-file environments, recurring transactions and merchant credentials that must stay up-to-date as underlying account information changes. As a result, token lifecycle management has become one of the most important (and least visible) parts of the payment experience. Members highlighted that although tokens are still far more secure than primary account numbers in e-commerce, the operational effort required to keep them current, linked and functional is increasing.
That complexity now has direct implications for performance and customer experience. Speakers noted that stronger lifecycle management can lift authorization rates because tokens can be updated in near real time as underlying card information changes. At the same time, members noted that token service provider rules from global payment networks do not always translate equitably across every payment path, particularly when alternative routing comes into play. Moving forward, closer coordination across stakeholders can help the industry deliver a more consistent tokenized payment experience.
Authentication is entering a post-biometric comfort zone
Forum discussions also reflected a growing industry realization that familiar authentication tools may no longer be enough on their own. Members pointed to signs that biometric bypass techniques are gaining traction in underground fraud channels, raising new questions about how payment stakeholders should think about trust and identity.
A representative for a major postage and delivery service shared a real-world example of how operational gaps can create fraud exposure. In cases where postage purchases are accumulated during the day and processed later, bad actors can make multiple transactions and then change the card on file before settlement is completed. The example underscored how quickly fraud patterns can emerge when authentication, credential management and payment timing fall out of sync.
That shift is also broadening the conversation around digital identity. Members discussed concerns around proving not only that a consumer is real, but that a digital agent, credential or device is acting with legitimate authority. In that context, a session on mobile driver’s licenses added a practical note to the discussion. While mDLs are often positioned as a more secure and privacy-conscious way to verify identity, attendees raised questions about adoption, surveillance risk and whether consumers will trust how these credentials are requested and used. The conversation underscored that broader payments use cases will depend as much on confidence and clarity as on the technology itself.
Forum priorities
The U.S. Payments Forum’s primary focus is to provide a platform for solving cross-industry challenges and promoting innovation. This is achieved through collaborative discussion, networking events and educational resources. At present, the Forum is working on projects on the following topics:
- Agentic commerce security, controls and consumer trust
- Quantum computing threats and opportunities
- EMVCo C-8 contactless kernel
- Importance of utilizing correct data elements
- Digital identity in EV charging payments
Resource recap
Over the past few months, the Forum’s Working Committees leveraged their expertise to publish the following educational resources:
- EMV® 3-D Secure Mini Series Brief #4: A resource exploring advanced EMV 3DS capabilities and emerging use cases
- Machine Learning and Fraud – A Practitioner Perspective: A podcast exploring how ML is bolstering payment data analysis and proactive fraud responses across the industry
- Petroleum AFD Certification Roadmap: An executive summary offering clarity on the certification environment for EMV® Contactless and PCI PIN Transaction Security (PTS) Point of Interaction (POI) requirements for outdoor automated fuel dispensers
- 2025 Mobile & Digital Wallets white paper: A resource offering clear insights into today’s leading wallet technologies, security trends and strategic considerations for merchants and financial institutions
Organizations, associations, government agencies and individuals interested in participating in upcoming Forum projects can visit the Secure Technology Alliance’s website to learn how to become a member. By joining the Secure Technology Alliance, members will have access to activities within the U.S. Payments Forum, the Identity and Access Forum and additional Alliance working committees.
About the U.S. Payments Forum
The U.S. Payments Forum is a cross-industry body that brings stakeholders together on neutral ground to enable efficient, timely and effective implementation of emerging and existing payment technologies. This is achieved through education, guidance and alternative paths to adoption. The Forum is the only non-profit organization whose membership includes the whole payments ecosystem, ensuring that all stakeholders have the opportunity to coordinate, cooperate on and have a voice in the future of the U.S. payments industry. The organization operates within the Secure Technology Alliance, an association that encompasses all aspects of secure digital technologies.
Contact
Sherlyn Rijos-Altman
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Monter Tech PR