Agentic Checkout: Why Mobile Identity Is the Missing Link
Agentic Checkout: Why Mobile Identity Is the Missing Link
Google’s “agentic checkout” announcement at its I/O 2025 conference signals a seismic shift in the digital commerce landscape. Google has fundamentally altered the journey from product discovery to payment completion by enabling AI agents to autonomously complete purchases directly within search results. This development creates unprecedented challenges – and opportunities – for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and identity solution providers focused on fraud prevention.
The Strategic Position of MNOs in Agentic Commerce
Mobile Network Operators suddenly find themselves in a uniquely advantageous position within this new paradigm. As custodians of verified user identities and mobile device relationships, MNOs possess critical data points that will become increasingly valuable for securing agentic payments (1)(2).
The inherent advantages MNOs hold in the identity space stem from their regulatory obligation to “know your customer” and their ability to support robust multifactor authentication solutions. With fraud and cybercrime estimated to cost organisations $5.2 trillion globally by the end of 2025, MNOs’ ability to validate a customer’s identity by verifying attributes against their mobile phone number becomes a crucial security layer (3).
UK operators EE, Three, O2, and Vodafone have already demonstrated the power of this collaborative approach by launching an anti-fraud product for businesses seeking to enhance the security of their registration processes. Such MNO initiatives will become even more critical in an agentic commerce environment (3).
Challenges for Mobile Identity Providers
The shift to agentic payments creates significant new fraud vulnerabilities; traditional fraud detection systems are built for human behaviours, not AI agents acting on behalf of humans (4)(5). This fundamental difference requires a complete rethinking of risk assessment models.
A recent fraud case highlighted by Payman demonstrates how criminals are already exploiting agentic commerce systems by using compromised credentials, linking fraudulent bank accounts, and employing AI voice modifiers to conceal their identities during verification calls (4). This sophisticated approach circumvented existing KYC processes, revealing critical weaknesses in current fraud prevention systems.
For mobile identity providers, several key capabilities must evolve with agentic checkouts:
Continuous authentication – Unlike point-in-time verification, solutions must continuously validate user identity throughout the agentic transaction process. (6)
Device intelligence – Leveraging unique device identifiers becomes essential for confirming that the authorised device is initiating agentic purchases. (7)
Behavioural analytics – Systems must develop new models to distinguish between legitimate AI agent behaviours and potentially fraudulent patterns. (7)(8)
The New Fraud Prevention Journey
With Google’s new agentic checkout model, the traditional fraud prevention journey is being completely redefined. When an AI agent, rather than a human, initiates and completes a purchase, fundamental questions arise:
Who validates the identity? Who handles fraud if it happens? And who owns the risk and the consent (5)? Google? The platform? The acquiring merchant? The seller? The buyer? Apple? Android?
The answer may lie in entitlement.
In tokenised systems, entitlement refers to the binding of a verified identity to a specific service or transaction. This concept may become critical in agentic checkout, especially when the buyer isn’t the one physically clicking “pay.” The system must prove that the AI agent is not just authenticated, but authorised – entitled – to act on the user’s behalf, right now, for this specific purchase. (9)
In the new world of AI-driven, agentic commerce, identity, consent and fraud prevention can’t sit on the sidelines. For MNOs and identity solution providers to remain relevant in this rapidly evolving landscape, they must develop robust API integrations with agentic commerce platforms like Google’s checkout system (10) and establish clearer authentication protocols designed explicitly for AI agent-initiated transactions (11).
Sekura.id’s adaptive APIs work across the customer journey, from onboarding to daily account usage, providing real-time signals. These are live, operator-grade APIs, connected to global telco networks and enterprises across banking, fintech, iGaming, and more. They’re designed to detect real-time fraud, reduce customer friction, and will meet agentic checkout compliance needs.
If the future of checkout is AI-first, the identity layer must be mobile-first. And Sekura.id is already leading that future.
About Sekura.id
Sekura.id is a leading provider of mobile identity solutions, trusted by enterprises, banks, fintechs, and mobile network operators across the globe. With direct operator connections in over 20 countries and coverage reaching more than 2.5 billion mobile users, Sekura.id enables secure, real-time identity verification through its powerful API platform.
Its data scientists are now driving the next generation of solutions by embedding AI and machine learning into dynamic, agentic-checkout frameworks -empowering intelligent identity flows that adapt in real time to reduce friction, increase trust, and stop fraud before it starts. XConnect, a Somos Company, acquired Sekura.id. Together, we are shaping the future of secure digital identity.
https://www.edgardunn.com/articles/agentic-commerce-the-future-of-paymentscustomers
https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/technologies/mobile-identity/mobile-connect/
https://dis-blog.thalesgroup.com/mobile/2017/04/05/strong-id-verification-mno-opportunity/
https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/technologies/mobile-identity/preventingfraud/
https://www.syniverse.com/blog/security/mobile-first-approach-matters/
https://www.experian.com/blogs/insights/what-is-mobile-identity-verification/
https://www.biocatch.com/blog/agentic-ai-the-next-wave-of-attacks
