Mastercard said on March 17 that earlier this month a CardInfoLink AI agent connected to global mobility platform hoppa searched and booked transport from Incheon International Airport to a hotel in Seoul's Gwanghwamun. It also completed payment through the company's AI payment infrastructure, Mastercard Agent Pay.

The company said it was the first AI agent-based live transaction conducted in South Korea.

The company said the AI agent identified the best route to the destination based on the user's location information, booked a vehicle and carried out the entire process through payment on its own.

Mastercard said it will use the deal to accelerate expansion of the AI commerce market. It is preparing to commercialise AI commerce with South Korean card issuers and domestic and overseas digital partners, and plans to broaden the scope of service applications to various fields.

It also plans to strengthen its global strategy to secure AI leadership in the Asia-Pacific region. Mastercard has set up an AI Center of Excellence in Singapore as a hub for technological innovation and stronger governance, and plans to expand cooperation with providers of large language models and AI agent developers in the region.

Jae-yul Yang (양재율), managing director in charge of digital payments at Mastercard Korea, said, "This live transaction success is an important milestone showing how safely and reliably AI can make payments in commerce settings." He added, "We will continue to work closely with domestic financial institutions, digital partners and merchants to expand South Korea's AI agent transaction ecosystem."