Key Takeaways
- Visa is launching “Visa Intelligent Commerce” to adapt its network for AI agents that shop for people.
- The program gives developers tools (APIs) to build AI shopping features using Visa’s network.
- Key features include AI-ready cards using secure digital tokens, AI-driven personalization (with user consent), and AI payments controlled by user-set rules.
- Visa is partnering with major AI companies like Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
- The move aims to make AI-powered shopping smoother and more secure for both consumers and sellers.
Artificial intelligence is changing how we do many things, from writing to shopping. Now, Visa is getting its payment network ready for the next step: AI ‘agents’ that can shop on our behalf.
The company recently introduced Visa Intelligent Commerce. According to ZDNet, this initiative opens up Visa’s systems to developers creating these new AI shopping experiences.
Think of AI assistants that don’t just find products but can also securely buy them for you. Visa Intelligent Commerce provides the tools needed to build these capabilities.
The program includes several components. It offers AI-ready credit cards that swap sensitive card numbers for secure digital tokens. It also enables AI-powered personalization, using basic spending insights (only with your permission) to help the AI shop better for you.
Furthermore, it allows AI agents to make purchases based on clear guidelines you set beforehand, ensuring you stay in control.
Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Jack Forestell, likened this shift to previous major changes in shopping, like the move from physical stores to online, and then to mobile devices.
Forestell believes AI agents will soon browse, select, and purchase items for people, requiring trust not just from users, but also from banks and merchants.
To make this happen, Visa is teaming up with big names in the AI world, including Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Samsung, and Stripe, among others.
This initiative comes as people increasingly turn to AI for shopping assistance, seeking efficiency and better results. Features in tools like Google search and Microsoft chatbots already help users find items through conversation.
Visa aims to remove the payment hurdles in this evolving AI-driven shopping landscape, creating a smoother, more secure, and personalized experience for everyone involved.
Other payment companies are making similar moves. Mastercard recently announced its own AI payment program, Mastercard Agent Pay, also focused on secure and personalized AI transactions.
