Turkey's central bank: payments are heading toward AI agents
Deputy Governor Hatice Karahan told Istanbul Fintech Week that payments are becoming smart after fast and secure, as AI agents begin to pay on users' behalf.
What happened
Prof. Hatice Karahan, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, opened the main summit of Istanbul Fintech Week 2026 on October 6. Under the theme "Smart, Embedded and Tokenized," she said the future of payments goes beyond speed and security to smarter payments, and that AI is moving payments toward agent-based payments.
What she said
Karahan noted that smart payments are developing around instant payment systems, increasingly executing on predefined conditions and interacting with digital identities and assets. Agent-based payments offer ways to coordinate payment processes but bring new challenges, and central banks must ensure innovation develops with clearly defined authority and trusted consensus.
What agent-based payments are
Instead of pressing a button, a user gives an AI agent authority and limits, and the agent pays within them: booking the best flight within budget, paying bills on time or reordering stock. TikTok's agentic commerce launch the same week is the commerce side of the same trend.
Turkey's starting point
Turkey's FAST instant payment system moves money between accounts in seconds around the clock, and QR payment standards and open banking rules give agents a secure way to connect. Karahan's emphasis on defined authority is the first line of defense against fraud and errors.
What's next
Rules on identity, authorization, liability and disputes still need to be settled, including who is responsible when an agent makes a wrong payment.
The event
Istanbul Fintech Week ran three days with five parallel summits. Its theme points to finance embedded inside other services such as shopping, transport and accounting, and to assets becoming digital tokens; Karahan's keynote represented the regulator's view.
Why it matters
When a central bank official frames AI agents as the next stage of payments, it signals that rules on authorization and liability are on the agenda, not a distant topic.
What it means for your business
AI agents shopping for customers may become key visitors. Keep FAST, QR and open-banking options current, publish clear price, stock and delivery data, and add defined limits to automated supplier and bill payments.