Mastercard Tells Analysts Cards Stay Central as AI Agents and Stablecoins Loom

On Mastercard's Q2 2026 earnings call (July 30), CEO Michael Miebach and CFO Sachin Mehra fielded analyst questions on agentic commerce, stablecoins, and machine-to-machine payments. Mastercard stated cards are still expected to play a central role in agentic commerce—pushing back against the idea that autonomous AI agents will bypass traditional payment rails.