In the era of artificial intelligence, the nature of payment gateways is transforming. Major platforms are deploying AI payment systems, aiming to secure influence over the next generation of interactive interfaces.
An AI-powered version of Alipay has officially launched, China UnionPay Business announced its own AI payment product, and JD.com is developing autonomous payment protocols for intelligent agents.
Almost simultaneously, leading domestic payment giants have collectively entered an era where "dialogue equals transaction."
On June 16, Ant Group announced the official launch of its AI-powered Alipay, named "A Bao." This version shifts the user interaction experience from a "display-based" model to a "conversational" one, enabling users to accomplish tasks simply by speaking.
On the same day, China UnionPay Business announced the launch of its AI payment product. It is currently applicable to three high-frequency scenarios: campus food pre-ordering, cloud bill payments, and AI-assisted meal ordering. It supports users in quickly completing a transaction by issuing a single natural language or text command, realizing the concept of "dialogue as transaction."
On June 11, JD.com released its Agent Autonomous Payment Protocol (A2P2), designed to build security safeguards for autonomous payments by AI agents. A JD Technology representative stated that JD.com will next select internal and external scenarios to pilot AI payments.
Separately, a Tencent insider revealed that WeChat Pay is currently testing AI payment capabilities on a small scale.
Behind this collective push by payment giants into AI payments is the profound transformation that AI Agents are bringing to commercial ecosystems. According to the latest research report from cross-border payment company Worldpay, approximately 40% of global consumers are willing to let AI agents shop on their behalf. In China, nearly two-thirds of consumers are already prepared to let AI assist with browsing and purchasing goods.
At the Alipay AI Payment Ecosystem Conference held in late May, Ant Group CEO Han Xinyi stated that AI agents will颠覆the "traffic is king" logic of the mobile internet era. In the future, the era of "traffic gateways" determined by humans is coming to an end, to be replaced by the "ecology of intelligent agents."
On June 8, WeChat announced it would provide WeChat Mini Program developers with the ability to access the WeChat AI ecosystem. Currently, internet platforms including DiDi, JD.com, Meituan, and Trip.com have announced they are among the first to access the WeChat AI ecosystem, allowing users to complete daily tasks like hailing rides, ordering food, and booking hotels by conversing with WeChat AI.
However, payment remains the core closed-loop component of digital services. A senior financial industry analyst at Broadcom Consulting noted that in the AI era, the form of payment gateways is changing accordingly. Platforms are deploying AI payments with the aim of seizing the right to define the next generation of interactive gateways.
The Dawn of the "Dialogue as Transaction" Era in Payments
On June 16, the AI-powered version of Alipay was officially launched, named "A Bao."
Testing revealed that the interface for the AI-powered Alipay is a dialog box for an AI agent, offering an experience similar to clients for large language models like Qwen, DeepSeek, and Doubao.
Ant Group stated that leveraging Alipay's ecosystem advantages, users can simply speak, and A Bao will understand the intent, match services, and assist with various life tasks, from scheduling appliance repairs and sending packages to hailing rides and ordering food. However, user confirmation is required for any steps involving fund transfers or payments.
"This is the first major app in China to undergo a full-stack AI transformation. It represents the natural evolution of a super app from a collection of functions to an intelligent agent hub, poised to become a super gateway for agents. It is a move by the company to capture the traffic gateway of the AI era and consolidate its advantages through technology," the analyst commented.
The analyst also emphasized that while the core competitiveness of the future payment industry will gradually tilt towards AI service capabilities, the foundation of payments remains security, stability, and network coverage. These are still the underlying competitive strengths of the industry, with AI capabilities serving as the core increment that enhances service efficiency and expands service boundaries on this foundation.
On the same day Alipay's AI version launched, China UnionPay Business officially introduced its AI payment product, announcing the achievement of "dialogue as transaction."
China UnionPay Business stated that this product complies with China UnionPay's APOP (Agent Payment Open Protocol) specification, serving as a benchmark implementation of this specification in the industrial sector.
Currently, UnionPay's AI payment can be applied to the three high-frequency scenarios of campus food pre-ordering, cloud bill payments, and AI-assisted meal ordering. It supports users in quickly completing transactions by issuing a single natural language or text command, achieving "speak to pay" and "dialogue as transaction."
It was explained that, catering to different merchant conditions, China UnionPay Business offers two flexible AI payment integration solutions: merchants with existing agents can quickly add transaction capabilities via APIs; merchants without agents can enjoy end-to-end full-process setup services.
Recently, Tencent has also attempted to embed AI payment capabilities into its AI scenarios.
A Tencent insider stated that WeChat Pay is testing AI payment capabilities on a small scale within WorkBuddy and QClaw, both of which are AI agent products launched by Tencent in early 2026. Leveraging WeChat Pay's AI payment capabilities, users can express consumption needs within conversations with these agents.
Previously, market reports also suggested Tencent is working on an AI transformation of the WeChat app itself.
On June 8, the official WeChat Developer account published "Guidelines for Developers to Access the AI Ecosystem," announcing that it would provide WeChat Mini Program developers with the ability to access the WeChat AI ecosystem. "WeChat AI" primarily refers to the AI agent Tencent is developing to embed within the WeChat app.
Subsequently, internet platforms including DiDi, JD.com, Meituan, and Trip.com announced they are among the first to access the WeChat AI ecosystem. In the future, users will be able to directly complete daily tasks like hailing rides, ordering food, and booking hotels by conversing with the WeChat AI agent.
Behind the AI transformations by platforms like Ant and Tencent lies the strategic positioning of payment giants in the era of intelligent agents.
"Payment, as underlying financial infrastructure, always needs to integrate into an ecosystem to demonstrate its vitality and competitiveness," stated a senior expert in the payments field during a small-scale sharing session. The expert noted that the博弈over AI payment protocols or standards is first and foremost a博弈over ecosystems. Therefore, platforms with ecosystem support will hold a comparative advantage in future competition.
At the Alipay AI Payment Ecosystem Conference, Ant Group's Co-President of the Digital Payment Business Group, Li Jiajia, stated that currently, Alipay is not considering commercial aspects, revenue, or competition in its AI payment business. The focus is solely on playing the role of AI payment infrastructure well, aiming first to expand the ecosystem.
The Payment Value of New AI Traffic Gateways
Within the new commercial ecosystem, payment remains the key infrastructure for completing the business closed loop.
"Only when agents can transact and receive payments will more people be motivated to develop agents," Li Jiajia told media. She added that the expansion of the agent ecosystem scale is also a prerequisite for AI payments to form a sustainable business model.
In fact, AI payment has become core infrastructure in the AI布局of tech giants.
On June 11, JD.com officially released the A2P2 protocol, aimed at building security safeguards for scenarios involving autonomous payments by AI agents.
A JD Technology representative stated that JD.com, leveraging its deep integration with super supply chains and segmented markets, covers over three thousand scenarios including retail, logistics, healthcare, industrial, food delivery, and home services, making it one of the enterprises with the most AI application scenarios and strongest industrial depth globally. This year, AI-related R&D investment within the JD system has increased by over 200%. The future goal is to build the world's largest physical world operation center, promoting AI's adoption from various industries to every household.
"In the future, autonomous payments by intelligent agents will play an increasingly important role. The emergence of the A2P2 protocol addresses the most critical trust短板in the payment sector of the intelligent economy era," the JD Technology representative said. They expressed hope that the A2P2 protocol will establish industry standards for autonomous agent payments, solving the "last mile" trust issue in AI payments.
The JD Technology representative stated that next, JD.com will select internal and external scenarios for AI payment pilots, attempting to allow agents to autonomously advance payment-related processes within single tasks, such as API call billing, low-value tool purchases, and single-item business travel service bookings.
Earlier, payment platforms including Alipay, WeChat Pay, JD Technology, and Du Xiaoman had already launched AI payment solutions for intelligent agents based on their respective ecosystems and capabilities.
Among these, Alipay announced the launch of a full-stack AI-native payment system for the AI era. As of the end of May 2026, Alipay's AI payment transaction volume exceeded 300 million, supporting 95% of general agent frameworks, including general agents, smart devices, smart cockpits, and AI tool platforms.
Furthermore, tech and payment giants like China UnionPay, Alipay, and Google have previously布局the AI payment ecosystem through methods such as releasing AI payment protocols.
"The core of platforms deploying AI payments is to seize the right to define the next generation of interactive gateways," the analyst concluded. "Payment is the core closed-loop link of digital services. In the AI era, as user interaction shifts from click-based operations to intent-driven commands, the form of payment gateways will change accordingly. Early布局aims to secure a position at this new traffic gateway."
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