New protocols for automated payments, where transactions are executed not by humans but by AI agents, could provide the momentum needed to scale the micropayments market.
The Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), launched by Tempo, could become the foundation for scaling a micropayments market that has seen little development for over 30 years. This view was shared by Meng Liu, Senior Analyst at Forrester, a U.S.-based research and consulting firm.
According to Liu, MPP enables payment automation at the level of interactions between services and AI agents, eliminating the human factor that previously hindered the development of microtransactions due to cognitive barriers and user reluctance to make small payments.
Unlike previous solutions, MPP is designed from the ground up for machine-driven scenarios. Payments become part of a programmatic request and are executed automatically, without a separate confirmation step. This removes the so-called “mental transaction cost,” which made users reluctant to make payments even as small as $0.001.
A key distinction of MPP, Liu notes, is that AI agents and automated systems don’t make decisions in the traditional sense. They execute payments as a required step to access data, computing resources, or APIs. As a result, the typical user behavior of refusing to pay or searching for free alternatives disappears.
Another contributing factor, according to the expert, is the maturity of the infrastructure. Unlike earlier attempts to implement micropayments, which required new wallets and separate ecosystems, MPP can operate on top of existing payment rails, including bank transfers, card networks, and tokenized funds. This lowers the barriers to integration and scaling.
The author also noted that the primary demand for such solutions is emerging in the B2B segment, among developers and enterprise users, where process automation, reconciliation, and end-to-end transaction handling make even frequent small payments economically viable.
Liu also emphasized that a multi-layered ecosystem of machine payments is taking shape. Alongside MPP, alternative protocols are developing, including x402 by Coinbase and the Agent Transaction Protocol by Circuit & Chisel. Particular attention is being paid to AI agent identification and fraud prevention. At the same time, some infrastructure providers are offering AI agents dedicated wallets, virtual cards, and programmable spending limits.
Recently, Visa announced its support for MPP and the addition of a card-based extension to its infrastructure.
