Finance

Visa wins PBOC preparatory approval for China card clearing unit

Visa has received approval from the People’s Bank of China to begin preparations to set up a bank card clearing institution in China through its wholly owned unit, Visa Information Technology Beijing. The approval is a preliminary step and does not allow immediate operations. The report said Visa must complete preparations within a year and then apply for a formal licence. American Express and Mastercard previously obtained clearing licences from the PBOC.

AI & Enterprise

American Express unveils framework to prevent unauthorised AI agent payments

American Express has unveiled an “Intent Intelligence Framework” designed to prevent unauthorised payments made by AI agents. The framework is intended to capture and authenticate a user’s purchase intent before an AI agent completes a transaction. It starts with a Create Intent API that records purchase instructions and requires user verification and approval. After approval, an intent ID and proof-of-intent token are created for secure payment credentials and later fraud prevention and dispute resolution.