Klarna, a global digital bank and flexible payments provider, has joined Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard designed to facilitate interaction between AI agents and commerce systems throughout the full shopping lifecycle.
The Universal Commerce Protocol aims to enable consumers to shop seamlessly within AI conversations, while providing a standardized method for agents, merchant systems, and payment providers to interact across various AI platforms. This development builds upon Klarna’s prior support for Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and further extends their multiyear partnership, which encompasses collaborations across Google Pay, Google Store, Google Play, and Google Cloud infrastructure. These collective efforts underscore an ongoing commitment to open standards as artificial intelligence increasingly influences online shopping behaviors.
David Sykes, Chief Commercial Officer at Klarna, emphasized the importance of foundational infrastructure in the evolving landscape of AI-driven shopping. He stated, “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.” Klarna’s existing technology offers consumers flexible payment options, real-time decisioning, and transparent terms, which are intended to build trust during checkout.
As agent-led commerce advances, open standards such as UCP offer an industry framework to explore how discovery, shopping, and payments can converge within AI-powered environments. Ashish Gupta, VP/GM, Merchant Shopping at Google, commented on the necessity of such standards: “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.”
Through its support for both UCP and AP2, Klarna contributes to the advancement of an open and interoperable commerce ecosystem where trusted payment options can function seamlessly across AI-powered checkout experiences.
