GoCardless completes the UK’s first agentic account-to-account payment for Trussell

GoCardless processed what it describes as the first agentic account-to-account payment in the UK. The payment was a donation to Trussell, the anti-poverty charity and network of food banks. The transaction was completed entirely through a conversational AI agent embedded on Trussell's site, where the user could learn about the charity, select a donation level, and provide their bank details.

Donors interacted with an AI chat that presented donation options such as £5, £10, or £15 per month, each with a short description of how funds would be used. After a donor selected an amount, the AI agent prompted the donor to enter bank details and set up a Direct Debit mandate on their behalf. The whole interaction remained inside the chat, rather than redirecting to a separate checkout.

GoCardless developed and launched the agentic payment process as part of the Financial Conduct Authority's AI Live Testing programme. The FCA scheme is intended to support safe and responsible deployment of AI in financial services by supervising live tests.

Why GoCardless focuses on account-to-account rails GoCardless argues that account-to-account payments and Direct Debit are better suited to agentic recurring payments than card rails. The company cites payer research showing that 64% of UK consumers are open to AI managing recurring payments if they retain controls such as limits or final approval. GoCardless' CEO Hiroki Takeuchi said: "Unlike cards, direct debit and recurring Pay by Bank are specifically built for this."

Christianne McKenzie, head of individual giving at Trussell, said the process felt natural and conversational and that simpler onboarding for recurring donations could help the charity reach more people. Hiroki Takeuchi described the transaction as built under FCA supervision and framed it as proof that agentic commerce can be underpinned by account-to-account rails.

Vision aims for account-to-account payments to become a meaningful alternative to cards. Separately, a Morgan Stanley estimate referenced in the report suggests large potential global e-commerce volume for AI agents by 2030, though that projection is not specific to the UK test.

For charities and merchants considering agentic checkouts, this example shows a live path to accept recurring bank-based payments via a conversational agent while staying inside regulatory testing. For consumers, the flow aims to keep control in their hands while streamlining setup.