Nexi and Google Cloud Build Agentic Commerce Infrastructure Across Europe

Europe's Leading Paytech and Google Cloud Partner on Agentic Commerce

Nexi Group and Google Cloud Collaborate to Drive Agentic Commerce Across Europe

Nexi Group, a leading European paytech, and Google Cloud today announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build foundational...

On March 3, 2026, Nexi Group, one of Europe's largest paytech companies, and Google Cloud announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to drive agentic commerce across Europe. Announced in Milan, this partnership aims to build the foundation for "agentic commerce" -- where AI agents autonomously search for products and securely execute payments on behalf of consumers -- at the European payment infrastructure level.

Both companies made clear commitments to the open-source commerce standards "Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)" and "Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)." Roberto Catanzaro, Chief Business Officer of Nexi's Merchant Solutions division, stated that "the era when AI agents orchestrate commerce on behalf of consumers is arriving."

Background and Industry Trends

This partnership must be understood in the context of agentic commerce rapidly entering the implementation phase on a global scale.

According to McKinsey's analysis, agentic commerce is projected to grow to a $3-5 trillion global market by 2030. As of 2026, the connection between AI platforms and payment infrastructure is accelerating rapidly, including ChatGPT's Instant Checkout (launched September 2025), Google's UCP announcement (January 2026), and OpenAI's partnership with PayPal.

Payment network activity has also been intense. Mastercard has rolled out "Agent Pay" and completed validations with Santander and CBA. Visa has also conducted pilots with DBS using its "Intelligent Commerce" framework. However, these have primarily been validations with individual banks and merchants.

The significance of Nexi's partnership lies in its infrastructure-level scale -- integrating AI agent infrastructure across "the entire payment network covering 25+ European countries." Nexi is one of Europe's largest paytech companies with 2024 revenue of 3.514 billion euros, and the integration of Google Cloud's AI infrastructure into its payment network could mark a turning point where agentic commerce transitions from "individual validations" to "broad-based deployment."

Technical Impact of UCP/AP2 Commitment

The key technical highlight of this partnership is the clear commitment to UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol) and AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol).

UCP is a Google-led open-source commerce protocol that standardizes the end-to-end commerce lifecycle from product discovery to checkout and order management by AI agents. Over 20 companies, including Shopify, Etsy, Walmart, Target, Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe, have already expressed support. AP2, meanwhile, is a payment-specific trust layer that works with UCP, enabling secure AI agent payments through cryptographically signed mandates and verifiable credentials.

The implementation of these protocols in Nexi's infrastructure moves three specific capabilities toward realization.

First, the creation of "conversational sales channels." The moment consumers indicate purchase intent through search queries or video recommendations, AI agents can immediately complete the payment flow in a manner compliant with European regulations.

Second, "enhanced real-time fraud detection." Nexi will leverage Google Cloud's AI and data analytics infrastructure to strengthen existing fraud detection systems. Agentic transactions present novel fraud risk patterns different from conventional ones, making AI-driven detection an essential requirement.

Third, "improved payment service access for ISVs (Independent Software Vendors)." As ISVs across European countries gain easier access to Nexi's payment infrastructure, the entire agentic commerce ecosystem expands.

Tara Brady, Google Cloud EMEA President, stated that "as consumer purchasing experiences shift toward agentic commerce, trust and security become the most important currency of the digital economy," emphasizing the importance of infrastructure as a security foundation.

Impact and Strategies for E-commerce Merchants

The impact of the Nexi and Google Cloud partnership on e-commerce merchants is significant, particularly for companies operating in the European market.

Preparing UCP-compliant structured data becomes the top priority. UCP is the standard protocol for AI agents to read, compare, and purchase product information. It supports multiple interfaces including REST API, MCP (Model Context Protocol), and A2A (Agent2Agent). Whether a business can provide its product catalog, inventory information, pricing, and shipping terms in UCP-compliant format will determine whether it can capture sales through AI agents.

Europe-specific regulatory compliance cannot be overlooked. In the EU, the AI Act, PSD3 (Payment Services Directive 3rd edition), and GDPR apply in overlapping layers. According to Mollie's analysis, liability for unauthorized purchases made by AI agents is not clearly defined under current law. The fact that Nexi's infrastructure is designed with European regulatory compliance as a prerequisite is an important consideration for businesses seeking to minimize legal risk.

Streamlined merchant onboarding is also anticipated. Nexi plans to leverage Google Cloud's AI technology to improve the onboarding process, potentially lowering the barrier to entry for agentic commerce, especially for small and mid-sized e-commerce merchants.

However, the announcement is at the MoU stage, and specific product release timelines have not been disclosed. Full-scale autonomous purchasing commercial deployment is expected to be 12-24 months away across Europe, making this a preparation period for e-commerce merchants.

Conclusion

The Nexi and Google Cloud MoU marks a turning point where agentic commerce is being fully integrated into European payment infrastructure. While Mastercard and Visa advance validations with individual banks, Nexi's move to integrate Google Cloud's AI infrastructure and UCP/AP2 standards across 25+ European countries accelerates the scaling of agentic commerce.

There are three key areas to watch going forward. First, the timeline from MoU to concrete product and service announcements. Second, how UCP/AP2 will align with the PSD3 and AI Act regulatory frameworks. Third, interoperability with competing agentic payment frameworks such as Mastercard Agent Pay and Visa Intelligent Commerce. E-commerce merchants operating in Europe have entered a phase where preparing UCP-compliant data should be their top priority to prepare for this transformation.