Klarna, the global digital bank and payments network, is joining Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a move designed to create a standardised framework for the rapidly emerging world of AI-driven commerce.
The announcement sees the Swedish fintech giant throwing its weight behind an open standard that enables AI agents and commerce systems to interact seamlessly across the entire shopping lifecycle—from initial discovery and purchase to post-purchase support.
Standardising the AI shopping spree
The push for a unified protocol comes as the industry prepares for a seismic shift in how consumers shop online. With Gartner predicting that AI agents will influence over $1trillion in e-commerce transactions by 2028, the need for interoperability has never been more acute.
Without open standards, the “agentic web” risks becoming fragmented, with different AI assistants unable to communicate effectively with merchant systems. UCP aims to solve this by providing a standardized way for agents, payment providers, and merchants to interact, ensuring that consumers can shop seamlessly within AI conversations regardless of the platform.
David Sykes, chief commercial officer at Klarna, commented: “As AI-driven shopping continues to evolve, it’s important that the underlying commerce infrastructure is built on openness, trust, and transparency. Supporting UCP is part of Klarna’s broader work with Google to help define responsible, interoperable standards that support the future of shopping.”
Deepening Google ties
This latest move significantly deepens Klarna’s multi-year strategic partnership with Google. It builds upon Klarna’s recent support for Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and complements existing collaborations across Google Pay, Google Store, Google Play, and Google Cloud infrastructure.
By integrating with UCP, Klarna aims to ensure its flexible payment options and real-time decisioning engines can serve as the trusted financial rails for autonomous AI agents.
Ashish Gupta, VP/GM, Merchant Shopping at Google, added: “Open standards like UCP are essential to making AI-powered commerce practical at scale. Klarna’s support for UCP reflects the kind of cross-industry collaboration needed to build interoperable commerce experiences that expand choice while maintaining security.”
The announcement underscores Klarna’s continued evolution as a public company. It confirms that Klarna is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KLAR), serving over 114 million active users globally. By positioning itself at the forefront of AI standards, the company is betting that the future of payments lies not just in mobile apps, but in autonomous, intelligent agents.