Head-to-head
AP2 vs Verifiable Intent
AP2 defines the mandate flow between agent, merchant and credential provider; Verifiable Intent defines a credential format (layered SD-JWT) for the same delegation, co-developed by Mastercard and Google and aligned with AP2. On Adyen the matrix reads AP2 announced and Verifiable Intent no statement found, and the two split on 9 more columns.
The sourced difference
AP2 defines the mandate flow between agent, merchant and credential provider; Verifiable Intent defines a credential format (layered SD-JWT) for the same delegation, co-developed by Mastercard and Google and aligned with AP2. Both went to the FIDO Payments working group on 28 Apr 2026. fidoalliance.org, read 4 Nov 2026.
Verdicts by reader type
- Head of ecommerce engineering
- Expect VI credentials inside AP2-style flows; do not build both separately.
- Payments lead
- Both are evidence formats; neither changes liability.
Side by side
| Measure | AP2 | Verifiable Intent |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Protocol | Protocol |
| Operator | FIDO Alliance (donated by Google, April 2026) | Mastercard, with Google; contributed to FIDO Alliance |
| Homepage | ap2-protocol.org | verifiableintent.dev |
| Matrix cells with a stated status | 0 live, 1 pilot, 10 announced | 0 live, 1 pilot, 0 announced |
| Published pricing | No pricing statement on file | No pricing statement on file |
| A limit worth knowing | Does not carry the payment itself: it wraps cards, x402 or other rails. | Does not move funds. |
| Merchant of record | Merchant | N/a |
| Dispute rules | Evidence only | Evidence only |
| Live surfaces | None confirmed | None |
| Cost | No protocol fee | No fee |
Column by column: where the statuses differ
10 of 27 columns read differently for AP2 and Verifiable Intent on 4 Nov 2026.
| Column | AP2 | Verifiable Intent |
|---|---|---|
| Adyen | announced | no statement found |
| PayPal | announced | no statement found |
| Worldpay | announced | no statement found |
| Coinbase | announced | no statement found |
| Crossmint | announced | no statement found |
| Shopify | announced | no statement found |
| Salesforce CC | announced | no statement found |
| Adobe Commerce | announced | no statement found |
| Etsy | announced | no statement found |
| Google AI Mode | announced | no statement found |
| 10 differences |
Read the profiles
Sources
- FIDO Alliance to develop standards for trusted AI agent interactions, read 4 Nov 2026
- AP2 protocol site, read 4 Nov 2026
- verifiableintent.dev, read 4 Nov 2026
- cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/announcing-agents-to-payments-ap2-protocol, read 4 Nov 2026
- AP2 releases, read 4 Nov 2026
- mastercard.com/us/en/news-and-trends/stories/2026/verifiable-intent.html, read 4 Nov 2026
- Verifiable Intent repository, read 4 Nov 2026
Last reviewed