Guide
Who is merchant of record in each protocol
In short
In ACP, UCP, Google AI Mode, Copilot Checkout, Perplexity Instant Buy and Muse purchases the merchant stays merchant of record. Visa's rules say an agent that initiates a transaction is not a merchant. So chargebacks on agent orders land on the merchant, as on any web order.
What the sources say
- The ACP site says businesses remain merchant of record. agenticcommerce.dev, read 4 Nov 2026.
- ucp.dev says businesses remain the Merchant of Record. ucp.dev, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Google: UCP checkout keeps you the merchant of record. support.google.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Microsoft: merchants stay merchant of record in Copilot Checkout and payments run on existing rails. about.ads.microsoft.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- PayPal says the retailer stays merchant of record for Perplexity Instant Buy. newsroom.paypal-corp.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Visa Core Rules: initiators of Agentic Transactions are not considered merchants for the purposes of the Visa Rules. usa.visa.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Amazon Buy for Me: Amazon acts as the customer's agent and the brand store sells, confirms, delivers and handles returns. aboutamazon.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
Profiles named in this guide
Read next
Sources
- agenticcommerce.dev/, read 4 Nov 2026
- ucp.dev/, read 4 Nov 2026
- Merchant Center help: UCP-powered checkout, read 4 Nov 2026
- Agentic Commerce, Microsoft Advertising, read 4 Nov 2026
- PayPal and Perplexity Launch Instant Buy, read 4 Nov 2026
- Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, 24 October 2026, read 4 Nov 2026
- Amazon Buy for Me, read 4 Nov 2026
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