Agentic commerce risks excluding vulnerable groups

Marking National Inclusion Week (14-20 September), Ecommpay highlights the compliance, moral and trust issues of AI shopping assistants

As National Inclusion Week kicks off, inclusive global payments platform, Ecommpay, is warning merchants and payment providers they must ensure their agentic commerce solutions are accessible to all customers, or they risk non-compliance.

A new report from Ecommpay, ‘Before They Check Out’, brings together insights and research among consumers and merchants and highlights the importance of keeping accessibility and trust at the centre when building AI solutions.

According to the UK’s Payments Association Diversity and Inclusion working group report , 59% of consumers are vulnerable to some degree. The study also found:

• 92.7% of consumers rated themselves as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ at using the internet, apps or online services, but only 69.5% of those with capability limitations said the same
• 41% of vulnerable respondents had failed to complete a banking or payment task because a digital or AI tool did not work, compared to 12% of all respondents
• 34%f vulnerable users want easier access to a real person when technology fails
• 25% of vulnerable individuals in the UK are looking for better fraud and scam protections

Under the 2025 European Accessibility Act (2010 Equality Act in the UK), merchants are legally obligated to consider the needs of vulnerable groups, demonstrating that they are delivering good outcomes for vulnerable customers. Yet the UK Payments Association report unveils a vast difference in the online banking and payment experiences of the average consumer and the vulnerable consumer, demonstrating that these obligations are not being met.

“Unfortunately, the current complexity of agentic checkout represents a risk of exclusion for vulnerable groups,” explained Miranda McLean, Chief Marketing Officer at Ecommpay. “Excluding these groups can undermine vulnerable individuals’ confidence in using digital tools and even lead directly to financial problems such as failed payments. As the online world moves towards agentic, provision must be made for all users, and solutions must be accessible regardless of physical or cognitive ability.

“If agentic commerce is not designed from the outset to be clear, controllable and recoverable for vulnerable consumers, it risks excluding people and causing real harm. Accessibility is not just a compliance issue; it’s a moral and trust issue too. Users must be able to trust their provider and the merchant; knowing that they can seek human assistance when necessary is an important first step in building that trust.”

Ecommpay’s research focused on individuals’ understanding of AI agents, how they currently use AI and how comfortable they are with different agent functions. Before They Check Out identifies the opportunities and challenges of AI-led e-commerce and highlights the importance of building trust before investing in full scale AI platform implementation.

“Already holding a strong position of trust, payment service providers (PSPs) are ready to deliver vital security solutions within agentic commerce,” added Miranda McLean. “PSPs are the connective tissue between merchants, consumers, banks and schemes – perfectly placed to deliver the critical trust layer that will secure consumer confidence and empower merchants to succeed within agentic commerce.”

Download the full white paper here: Before they check out: Why payment service providers should deliver trust in agentic commerce for merchants and customers.