SPTs open up to network tokens and BNPL providers

Stripe is expanding its Shared Payment Tokens (SPTs) to cover more payment methods for AI-driven transactions. SPTs, introduced last year as a payment primitive for agentic commerce, let AI agents initiate payments with a customer's permission without exposing raw card credentials. Existing SPT users include Etsy and URBN, which operates Anthropologie, Free People, and Urban Outfitters.

The expansion adds support for Mastercard Agent Pay, Visa Intelligent Commerce, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers Affirm and Klarna. Stripe says it is the first provider to support both agentic network tokens and BNPL tokens in agentic commerce through a single primitive. The new capabilities are already being used by Stripe to process transactions for supported AI agents.

Sellers interact only with SPTs; Stripe handles provisioning of agentic network and BNPL tokens behind the scenes. Any existing Stripe payment processor automatically supports these payment methods for agentic transactions.

How agentic network tokens work

Agentic network tokens are issued by Mastercard and Visa and deployed in partnership with Stripe. They function as network-issued digital credentials that allow authorized AI agents to initiate payments on a customer's behalf without exposing underlying card details. When a customer authorizes an agent to make purchases, Stripe provisions a token scoped to the customer's intent and shares it with the agent. The agent can use the token at any seller accepting agentic payments, anywhere Mastercard or Visa is accepted.

Payment networks handle credential translation, verification, and authorization. Agents can vault the tokens with Stripe once and reuse them across multiple sellers, consistent with the customer's original intent. The tokens behave like card-on-file network tokens: networks automatically map the token to the latest primary account number (FPAN) when sending authorization requests to issuers. Additional information in the authorization message helps issuers make provisioning decisions and manage disputes and fraud.

BNPL support for agentic checkout

BNPL methods now account for over $300 billion in transactions worldwide. Businesses on Stripe see up to a 14% increase in revenue on BNPL-eligible sessions, driven by higher conversion and average order values. The new SPT support for Affirm and Klarna brings that value to agentic transactions: agents can present flexible payment options on behalf of customers, with the aim of improving checkout conversion.

When a customer selects a BNPL option, Stripe displays the BNPL confirmation page on the agent's UI and passes the seller's credentials to the BNPL provider. From the customer's perspective, the flow is unchanged; Stripe manages the underlying complexity.

What's next

Stripe plans to add more payment methods to SPTs over time, broadening access to agentic payments for more customers. The company announced the new capabilities alongside an invitation to Stripe Sessions for further details on its agentic commerce roadmap.