63.8% of people are open to agentic payments. Here's what it will take

Quick summary

• 63.8% of UK consumers are open to AI managing their recurring payments, provided they have some control over limits or final approval

• Consumer trust in agentic payments flows from regulated infrastructure — not the AI brand delivering the experience

• Comfort today centres on managing existing payments; setting up new mandates or switching providers remains a step too far for most

• The adoption curve mirrors contactless payments — familiarity will drive trust, and the businesses that move early will set the standard

AI is already helping your customers research products, compare providers, and make decisions. The next step is letting it complete the transaction too. That's the premise of agentic payments — and according to our research, consumers are more ready for it than you might think.

In February 2026, we surveyed 300 UK consumers about their attitudes towards AI-managed payments. What we found challenges the assumption that consumer reluctance is the biggest barrier to adoption. Only 36.2% said they were uncomfortable with the idea outright. The majority are open, on the right terms.

Here's what those terms look like, and what they mean for businesses collecting payments.

What are agentic payments?

Most people already use AI to help them make decisions — researching a product, comparing energy tariffs, planning a trip. Agentic payments are the next step: what happens when the AI assistant that helped you compare providers can also complete the switch and set up the payment?

In practical terms, an agentic payment is one that an AI assistant initiates, manages, or completes on your behalf — within limits you've defined. You set the parameters; the AI handles the execution.

That behaviour is closer than it might seem. Our survey found that 68% of UK consumers had used ChatGPT in the three months before we asked them, with Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot not far behind at 44.6% and 42.3% respectively. Consumers are already comfortable delegating research and decision-making to AI tools. Payments are the natural next frontier.

But what does this mean for businesses? Payment flows that currently rely on checkout pages and bank redirects could increasingly move into conversational interfaces — where an AI acts on a customer's behalf. How customers are onboarded, how payments are collected, and how relationships are retained will all be shaped by this shift.

Most consumers are open — on the right terms

You might expect consumers to be reluctant to hand control of their payments over to AI. The data tells us a different story.

Only 36.2% of respondents said they were uncomfortable with the idea. The 51.7% in the middle — neither resistant nor fully sold — have concrete, reasonable requirements before they'd say yes - like real-time notifications or having final approval of payments. Just 12.1% would hand over recurring payment management to an AI today with no conditions attached.

For businesses willing to meet consumers’ conditions for agentic payments, the opportunity is substantial.

How comfortable are consumers with AI managing their recurring payments?

Most are open — but on their own terms

What do consumers actually need to feel comfortable?

We asked respondents to pick their top three requirements for allowing an AI to make payments on their behalf. The answers are specific, reasonable, and — crucially — buildable.

What would make consumers comfortable with AI-managed payments?

Percentage selecting each as a top-three requirement

Requiring approval for every payment topped the list at 45.3%, followed by consumer protection in the event of failure at 35.4%, and real-time notifications at 32.3%. Rounding out the top five: a clear record of what's been authorised, and accessible customer support.

These are the basics any responsible payment system should already provide — and the regulatory direction of travel in the UK around open banking is designed to deliver exactly this, with strong consent frameworks and transparent authorisation trails built into the infrastructure from the ground up.

The bar for consumer trust is within reach.

Who do consumers trust to deliver it?

When asked to rank who they'd most trust to offer agentic payments safely, consumers placed their own bank first — 49.7% ranked it in the top position. Regulated payment providers came second. Well-known AI assistant brands ranked fifth, below "I wouldn't trust anyone with this yet." People trust regulated infrastructure over AI brands.

Who do consumers trust most to offer agentic payments safely?

For businesses thinking about how to position agentic payment products, this matters. The consumer experience may live inside an AI interface, but trust is built at the infrastructure level.

Where consumers are willing to start

Not all payment actions feel equal. Our data shows a clear hierarchy based on perceived risk.

What would consumers let an AI agent do on their behalf?

Percentage of respondents willing to permit each action

One-off bill approvals and managing existing payments — pausing a subscription, adjusting a payment date, cancelling a mandate — sit within most consumers' comfort zone today. Setting up entirely new payment mandates or switching providers is a different matter. 39.3% said they wouldn't allow an AI agent to do any of the above, though the same group showed openness in other parts of the survey — suggesting ambiguity rather than outright resistance.

The pattern is consistent: consumers are comfortable delegating execution within a boundary they've already set. Agentic payments won't replace the moment a customer chooses to sign up — it will streamline everything that follows it.

On spending, a similar picture emerges. While 34% want to approve every payment manually, 57% would allow autonomous payments up to £100.

How much would consumers let an AI spend without asking them first?

Percentage comfortable with each threshold

That distribution will look familiar. Contactless payments started with a £10 limit in 2007 and felt risky to many at the time. Today, tapping to pay is the default for most UK in-person transactions, with limits reaching £100 and biometric authentication removing them altogether for many. Trust followed familiarity. The spending data suggests agentic payments will follow the same curve.

Agentic payments won't replace the moment a customer chooses to sign up — it will streamline everything that follows it.

What this means for businesses

The consumer appetite is forming now. And the businesses that move early — building payment experiences that give consumers the control they're asking for — will be the ones that set the standard for everyone else.

In practice, that means AI that can manage existing subscriptions, schedule payments to avoid overdrafts, and handle one-off purchases — all within limits the customer has already agreed to. The consent moment stays with the consumer. 

The infrastructure for agentic commerce already exists, the regulatory frameworks are taking shape, and consumers are closer to ready than most assume. The question for businesses is, what’s the cost of inaction? And can you afford to wait?

We connect over 2,500 banks and process over $130 billion in payments each year. At GoCardless, we’ve been building the open banking infrastructure that makes this possible — and we're following this space closely.