December 15, 2025
PCI Pal Speeds Up MCP Support to Secure Payments in AI Conversations
PCI Pal has announced plans to fast-track support for Model Context Protocol (MCP), a new open standard that helps conversational AI systems connect safely with external services.
The update, expected to be available in the coming months, aims to help businesses use AI to handle payments and other sensitive tasks inside customer conversations.
The announcement comes as more companies use chatbots and voice bots to deal with customers. While these tools can already answer questions and guide users, many organisations still stop short of letting AI take payments or confirm identities, as security, compliance, and trust remain major concerns.
What Is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is essentially a shared set of rules that tells AI systems how to integrate and share data with other software in a safe and controlled way. It helps AI understand what it can access and what actions it can take, without exposing sensitive data or breaking compliance rules.
Instead of building a new integration for every AI platform or channel, MCP allows companies to use one standard connection. This makes it easier for AI to carry out real actions while staying within clear security rules.
PCI Pal’s MCP support means simpler deployment for its partners and customers across automated channels. Using a single MCP-based integration, PCI Pal’s secure payment flows support both voice bots and chat bots. This reduces development work and makes it easier to roll out new AI experiences without redesigning payment processes each time.
A key part of PCI Pal’s approach is its decision to stay vendor-agnostic. Many AI platforms try to lock customers into their own tools and ecosystems, whereas PCI Pal is taking a different route by supporting MCP in a way that works across multiple AI systems. This gives enterprises more freedom to choose or change their conversational AI technology while keeping the same secure payment setup.
Flexibility Matters
Companies may experiment with different models or providers, but they still need a reliable way to handle payments and protect customer data. PCI Pal’s MCP support sits alongside those tools, rather than forcing organisations into a single platform.
In CX terms, this move means everything is happening in one conversation. Customers should be able to ask a question, get help, and complete a payment without being pushed to a separate page or passed to a human agent. Whether the interaction happens through chat or voice, the process should feel smooth and familiar.
