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HSBC and Ant Digital’s AI agents paid for services with tokenized deposits, under $2 at a time
Brief published October 13, 2026 · Original source published October 12, 2026
Original reporting by Krishi Chowdhary at techreport.com.
Automated brief. Verify important details at the original source.
What happened
HSBC and Ant Digital Technologies announced on October 9, 2026 that they completed a technical test in which AI software agents autonomously located digital services and paid for them using tokenized bank deposits. Settlements occurred in real time on the Jovay Testnet, with individual payments typically under $2. The agents handled the full cycle, from service discovery to payment, without human intervention at the transaction level.
Why it matters
The test demonstrates a working pipeline where AI agents hold and spend tokenized money independently, which is a meaningful step toward machine-to-machine commerce at scale. If the approach moves beyond testnet, it could reshape how micropayment infrastructure is designed, since existing payment rails were built for human-initiated transactions rather than high-frequency automated ones.
What to watch
Whether HSBC or Ant Digital announce a move from the Jovay Testnet to a production environment, and whether regulators in relevant jurisdictions respond to AI agents acting as autonomous payment initiators.