MAG Insights

The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) continues to advance the merchant voice across the payments industry, from technology upgrades to thought leadership on emerging trends. With exciting changes on the horizon, including a new database, active engagement at key industry events, and leadership in shaping conversations around agentic commerce, the MAG is driving collaboration and delivering resources that matter most to our members and sponsors.

The MAG is Moving to Salesforce

This October, the MAG will transition its database to Salesforce to enhance the member and sponsor experience. On October 6, all current members and sponsors with a MAG website login will receive an email to reset their passwords.

The new portal page will provide streamlined access to view and edit your profile, review past purchases, purchase eLearning courses, and much more!

Stay tuned for further updates as we approach this exciting change!

Spotlight on Agentic Commerce

The newest buzzword in payments is agentic commerce. Just a few months ago, there was no clear name for the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and payments, but today, it’s one of the hottest topics across the industry.

The MAG is positioning itself as the voice of the merchant community in this evolving space. Our efforts include:

• Gathering merchants’ perspectives on desired outcomes in the fast-changing world of agentic commerce, with a resource guide coming soon for MAG Members.
• Partnering with MAG Sponsors to develop webinars.
• Building educational materials to highlight the merchant view.
• Collaborating with key ecosystem participants to drive merchant-friendly solutions.
• Meeting with standards bodies to establish important guardrails.

Our goal is to ensure merchants have a seat at the table as product development and industry discussions move forward in this new era.

If you are interested in contributing to this project or have questions, please reach out to Steve Cole.

MAG Out and About

Our team continues to represent the merchant voice across the payments ecosystem:

• On August 5, Steve moderated a USPF Fireside Chat on the Petro AFD Certification Roadmap, covering the challenges tied to the end of Level 1 certifications for EMV contactless v2.6 and new sales for PCI PTS 5 certified devices.
• On August 26–27, Steve attended the Identity & Access Forum meeting, which featured presentations on Digital Identity Reimagined, Navigating Fraud Risks, Identity in Europe, and NIST SP 800-63-4 (Digital Identity Guidelines). More details will be shared in the upcoming Q3 MAG Payments Technology Industry Engagement Report.
• On September 16, Bryan led a panel at Spreedly’s PaymentsFN, where he highlighted the merchant perspective on key topics, including cross-border growth, fraud and trust in digital commerce, and the rise of emerging wallets and digital currency adoption.
• Steve will represent MAG at the EMVCo Board of Advisors meeting on October 20–22.
• Both Troy and Steve will attend the X9 Consensus and Board of Directors meetings on October 28–29. We’re also proud to share that Troy was elected to a three-year term as Treasurer of X9.

As the payments landscape continues to evolve, the MAG remains focused on ensuring merchants are represented, prepared, and empowered. Whether through new tools like the Salesforce portal, thought leadership on agentic commerce, or active participation in industry forums, our commitment is to provide value, insight, and a strong voice for the merchant community. We look forward to keeping you updated as these initiatives unfold.