Executive summary Australia is not debating whether AI agents can buy products. That capability is already entering live payment trials. The question now being written into policy is more consequential: who pays when an agent makes the wrong purchase,uses the wrong payment rail or acts outside the customer’s intent? The Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2026 Review of Payments System Regulation has exposed a clear divide. Commonwealth Bank,Westpac and Macquarie want the RBA to eng