American Express adds checks to stop AI agents from buying items you did not approve

In short: American Express has introduced a new set of tools meant to make sure AI shopping assistants only buy what a customer actually approved.

What happened

American Express (Amex) says more people are starting to use AI agents, meaning software assistants that can take actions for you, like shopping online. But these systems can make mistakes, which could lead to unwanted charges.

To reduce that risk, Amex introduced what it calls the “Intent Intelligence Framework.” The goal is to capture a customer’s purchase intent, meaning the exact instructions for what to buy, before an AI agent completes the purchase.

Amex says the process starts when an agent creates a record of what the customer asked for, such as the store name, a maximum budget, and product preferences. The customer then confirms their identity and approves those instructions. After that, the purchase uses a special payment credential instead of the customer’s actual card number, and it is tied to the approved intent (like giving a shopper a single use, written permission slip instead of handing over your whole wallet).

Amex says this framework is part of its ACE Developer Toolkit, which it launched earlier this year. The company also said it has not seen a jump in disputes tied to AI agents yet, but it wants to prepare as this kind of shopping grows.

Why it matters

If AI assistants start buying things for people more often, mistakes could become expensive and hard to untangle. A system that checks whether a purchase matches what you asked for could help prevent wrong items, unwanted brands, or overspending before the charge happens.

Source: TechCrunch AI