Lianlian DigiTech and UnionPay International have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to develop AI-agent payment applications for cross-border commerce.

Initial efforts will focus on global procurement and AI Token replenishment, integrating AI-assisted procurement workflows with cross-border payment infrastructure.

Building on existing B2B payment collaborations, this initiative aims to address structural inefficiencies in cross-border purchasing, including protracted settlement cycles, exchange rate volatility, and manual reconciliation processes.

Automating global procurement

A human-in-the-loop AI-agent payment solution for global procurement will be the first application under this partnership. It combines Lianlian’s AI platform with UnionPay International’s cross-border payment network.

This agent will automate supplier matching, product selection, and payment order generation, while finance teams retain final approval over transactions.

Both companies said this approach is intended to connect AI-assisted decision-making with auditable payment execution, giving enterprises greater efficiency while maintaining human oversight.

Lianlian and UnionPay will use this initial deployment to refine the technical architecture based on user feedback.

Expanding merchant acceptance

Long-term goals for the collaboration include driving industry standardisation and boosting the adoption of AI-agent payment solutions.

Both firms plan to expand overseas merchant acceptance and explore new AI-driven payment scenarios in international markets.

Lianlian and UnionPay International will also engage in joint research and development of AI technologies for financial services.

UnionPay International noted that this partnership aligns with its broader AI payments strategy.

To promote the scaled adoption of AI-agent payments in commercial use, it will deploy its global payment network.

Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Hong Kong, based on image by user850788 via Magnific