Visa Plans AI Agents to Use Credit Cards for Purchases

Visa is launching a new initiative, Visa Intelligent Commerce, that will allow artificial intelligence agents to make purchases on behalf of consumers using their credit cards. This marks a significant shift from AI merely providing recommendations to actually executing transactions, with users able to set budgets and preferences while the AI handles shopping and payments autonomously. Visa has partnered with leading AI developers, including Anthropic, Microsoft, OpenAI, and others, to integrate their AI systems with Visa’s payment network, aiming to make the process secure and trusted through measures like tokenized digital credentials. Pilot programs are being launched now, with broader adoption expected next year, as Visa addresses technical and security challenges such as authentication and spending controls. The company sees this as a transformational step in commerce, positioning itself at the forefront as tech giants like Amazon and Google also develop AI shopping agents. For emerging AI firms, Visa’s involvement offers a boost to compete in the evolving landscape of digital commerce.