KEY POINTS
- Garanti BBVA and Mastercard have introduced an AI-powered shopping assistant, a first for the banking sector in Türkiye.
- The solution enables “agentic commerce,” where AI assistants autonomously search, compare, and pay for products within the bank’s mobile apps.
- Built on Mastercard’s Agent Pay technology, the system prioritizes security and transparency, ensuring the user’s intent is at the center.
- The tool will soon be available to consumers through the Garanti BBVA Mobil and Bonus Flaş platforms.
MAIN STORY
Garanti BBVA, a leader in digital banking innovation, has teamed up with Mastercard to launch a groundbreaking AI-powered shopping assistant. This new tool allows customers to handle their entire shopping journey, from finding a product to paying for it without ever leaving their banking app.
The project was officially showcased at a special event featuring top executives from both companies, marking the first time “agentic commerce” has been fully implemented in Türkiye’s banking industry.
The AI assistant doesn’t just follow simple commands; it actually “reasons” and plans. It can find the best options for a user, compare prices, and complete the payment securely. To make sure everything is safe, the communication between the AI agent and the merchant follows Mastercard’s global security standards. This means the payment step becomes “invisible” and fits naturally into the user’s daily life, rather than being a separate, clunky transaction.
Ceren Acer Kezik, Executive Vice President at Garanti BBVA, explained that the bank wants to move beyond simple financial steps to create an ecosystem that adapts to how people live. By using data to understand what a customer actually needs, the bank can offer a hyper-personalized experience. Mastercard’s General Manager for Türkiye and Azerbaijan, Onur Faydacı, added that Türkiye’s strong digital infrastructure makes it the perfect place to launch this kind of global technology hub.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
- “Our goal is to transform payment from a mere ‘transaction step’ into an invisible, frictionless, and secure experience,” said Ceren Acer Kezik, EVP of Retail Banking at Garanti BBVA.
- “By setting standards for transactions carried out through AI agents, we will make these processes discoverable, tokenized, and authenticated,” noted Onur Faydacı, General Manager of Mastercard Türkiye and Azerbaijan.
- The companies described the move as the “dawn of agentic commerce,” moving beyond executing commands to actual autonomous planning.
WHAT’S NEXT
- App Integration: The AI assistant will officially go live on the Garanti BBVA Mobil and Bonus Flaş apps for all cardholders.
- Merchant Expansion: More retailers, following the demo participation of Atelier Rebul, are expected to join the ecosystem to accept agent-led payments.
- Global Hub: Mastercard plans to use the success of this launch in Türkiye to further develop agentic payment technologies for other international markets.
BOTTOM LINE
The Bottom Line is that Garanti BBVA and Mastercard are making shopping a lot easier by letting AI do the heavy lifting. By turning the banking app into a personal shopping assistant that can pay for things on its own, they are moving toward a future where “buying” is just a natural part of your day, not a chore.
