Reap, Meitu's EveLab Insight, and commerce technology firm Pivota have signed a memorandum of understanding in Hong Kong to explore an AI-assisted beauty shopping service that would take users from skin analysis and product recommendations to payment and order confirmation inside a single experience.
The proposed system would use Meitu's MakeupPlus app as the starting point for beauty discovery. Users could receive AI-based skin and beauty analysis, state their preferences, and receive product suggestions. Pivota would assess which products, merchants, and buying channels best fit those preferences, including availability and price, before Reap handles checkout through its payment connections.
The companies said users would remain responsible for approving purchases. A shopper would review payment details where required and confirm the transaction through a secure passkey, a passwordless authentication method tied to a device or account. The arrangement is intended to apply Reap's agentic payments tools, which allow software agents to initiate card payments within spending limits and permissions set by the user.
The memorandum does not commit the parties to launch a consumer product or set a timetable for deployment. It establishes a framework for examining whether beauty recommendations, merchant selection, checkout, and payment can operate as a connected process rather than as separate steps across multiple apps and websites.
MakeupPlus would become the discovery layer
EveLab Insight, a Meitu unit focused on beauty technology, said its tools combine AI skin analysis with high-resolution imaging for spas and skincare brands. It also develops and publishes MakeupPlus, a mobile app offering augmented-reality makeup try-ons, portrait editing, skin retouching, and facial-feature adjustments on iOS and Android.
Under the proposed collaboration, that visual and analytical layer would feed directly into commerce. Instead of receiving a product recommendation and then searching independently for a seller, a MakeupPlus user could potentially move from an analysis result to a recommended item and then to an approved checkout flow without leaving the discovery environment.
That model places a greater burden on the systems making product and merchant choices. Beauty products can vary sharply by retailer, country, stock levels, shipping options, shade availability, and price. Pivota said its platform is designed to connect AI applications to merchants and payment infrastructure, handling product selection, merchant matching, payment acceptance intelligence, checkout routing, and order execution through integrated partners.
Pivota said it does not hold or transfer customer funds and does not offer financing. Its role in the planned flow would therefore be focused on commerce orchestration: determining how a user's requested purchase can be completed through participating merchants and channels.
Payment approval remains with the shopper
The companies' proposed design emphasizes approval rather than autonomous spending. Reap said its service supports agent-initiated card payments under user-approved mandates, with payment credentials, spending controls, and transaction records attached to the process.
In practical terms, an AI system could prepare a purchase based on a user's beauty profile and stated preferences, but the consumer would need to approve the order and, when required, validate the payment with a passkey. That structure could limit one of the most immediate concerns surrounding AI shopping agents: software making purchases without clear user knowledge of the merchant, price, or final order.
The quality of the user experience will likely depend on how clearly the service presents choices before confirmation. A recommendation engine may identify a suitable skincare product, yet shoppers would still need enough detail to assess size, formulation, delivery terms, return policies, taxes, and the final price. The proposed partnership combines recommendation, routing, and payment, but each element can affect whether an automated purchase feels convenient or opaque.
Reap described itself as a financial technology company built on stablecoin-native infrastructure and said it processes billions of dollars in stablecoin-funded transaction flows. The company was founded in Hong Kong in 2018 and said it employs 300 people worldwide. Reap also said it was acquired in 2026 by Payward, the parent company of Kraken.
The announcement does not specify which payment methods, stablecoins, card networks, countries, merchants, or product categories would be included in any eventual rollout. It also does not say whether shoppers would pay directly with stablecoins, with cards funded through conventional accounts, or through another payment arrangement supported by Reap.
AI shopping agents are moving toward execution
The agreement reflects a developing contest to turn generative AI from a tool for product research into a system that can carry out approved purchases. Recommendation engines have long influenced online shopping, particularly in cosmetics, fashion, and consumer electronics. The more difficult step is connecting those recommendations to reliable merchant inventory, payment authorization, fraud controls, and order confirmation.
Beauty is a logical test category because product discovery often begins with personal attributes and visual experimentation. MakeupPlus already offers virtual try-ons and image-based editing, while skincare recommendations can draw on user-provided preferences and AI skin assessments. Connecting those features to merchant systems would give the app a direct commercial function beyond visual engagement.
The commercial challenge is less about generating a recommendation than making sure the recommended item can actually be purchased on terms acceptable to the user. Pivota's role would be to find an available product and a viable checkout path, while Reap's systems would complete payment after customer authorization.
If the parties move beyond the memorandum, the project would offer a closely defined example of agentic commerce: an AI service that helps identify a product, evaluates purchase routes, and prepares a transaction, while leaving final approval with the customer.
Want to explore similar AI-powered fintech innovation? Read more on AI–blockchain synergy in finance and its impact on future payment experiences.
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