Amex introduces a framework to prevent unauthorized AI purchases

American Express has introduced the Intent Intelligence Framework, designed to capture and authenticate a customer’s purchase intent before an AI agent completes a transaction. The company aims for customers’ instructions to remain attached throughout the transaction process.

The framework is part of the company’s ACE Developer Toolkit, following its launch in April. It starts with a Create Intent API that records purchase instructions and constraints, such as a merchant, maximum budget, or product preferences. The customer authenticates their identity and approves the captured intent. The system then creates an Intent ID and a Proof of Intent Token containing the customer’s high-level constraints. The token can be used to obtain a secure digital payment credential for checkout instead of using the customer’s actual card number.

American Express says the Intent ID and token could also support fraud prevention and dispute resolution. The company has not seen an increase in disputes from agentic commerce so far, but says it is developing the framework proactively as this type of commerce grows. It is discussing ACE implementation with payments partners and hopes the framework will become an industry standard.

In an example from Hannah Bozian, American Express’s VP of Agentic Partnerships and Strategy, a customer might ask an agent to buy white Nike sneakers in size 9, but the agent could request Adidas shoes instead. The framework could stop that transaction. Bozian said the company also expects agents to handle some purchases more autonomously, such as reordering household staples.

An Amex Trendex report found that 66% of surveyed U.S. consumers said they were likely to use AI agents to research prices, while 61% said they were likely to use them for product or service recommendations over the next 12 months.