Klarna backs Google UCP to power AI agent payments

Klarna aims to address the lack of interoperability between conversational AI agents and backend payment systems by backing Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard designed to unify how AI agents discover products and execute transactions.

The partnership, which also sees Klarna supporting Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), places the Swedish fintech firm among the early payment providers to back a standardised framework for automated shopping.

The interoperability problem with AI agent payments

Current implementations of AI commerce often function as walled gardens. An AI agent on one platform typically requires a custom integration to communicate with a merchant’s inventory system, and yet another to process payments. This integration complexity inflates development costs and limits the reach of automated shopping tools.

Google’s UCP attempts to solve this by providing a standardised interface for the entire shopping lifecycle, from discovery and purchase to post-purchase support. Rather than building unique connectors for every AI platform, merchants and payment providers can interact through a unified standard.

David Sykes, Chief Comm...