Visa: Leveraging AI to Transform Commerce Transactions

Visa has launched a forward-thinking approach to reshaping commerce through artificial intelligence, aiming to facilitate AI-driven purchasing decisions at its Global Product Drop event.

Dubbed Visa Intelligent Commerce, this initiative aims to empower AI applications by integrating them with Visa's extensive network, which currently serves 4.8 billion payment credentials and connects to 150 million merchant acceptance points globally.

"As new ways to pay emerge, they need to run on a network that is always on—that is safe, secure, scalable and relentlessly innovating," says Ryan McInerney, Visa CEO.

AI as the new commerce interface

Visa's assessment of the changing consumer purchasing landscape indicates AI agents will soon act as intermediaries between buyers and merchants.

This advanced system is designed to manage both routine and complex transactions effectively.

Collaboration with eight leading technology companies, including Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Stripe and Samsung, is key to integrating Visa's payment systems directly into AI applications.

This relationship promises to streamline processes ranging from everyday tasks.

Jack Forestell, Visa's Chief Product and Strategy Officer, explains the scope of these AI applications: "We see tremendous potential for the role AI agents will play in commerce, from streamlining transaction-driven tasks such as ordering groceries, to more sophisticated search and decision-making like securing that hard-to-get restaurant reservation."

The strategy marks a turning point for Visa's relationship with artificial intelligence.

While the company has long deployed AI for security and fraud prevention, this initiative repositions the technology as a consumer-facing commerce enabler.

Expanding beyond traditional payments

Complementing the AI commerce framework, Visa revealed initiatives to extend its payment capabilities beyond conventional means.

Leveraging five years of experience in cryptocurrency, Visa is advancing its stablecoin strategy through a collaboration with Bridge, a Stripe company.

This effort will result in a card product for fintech developers, providing the opportunity to offer stablecoin-linked Visa cards in various countries via a single integration.

Moreover, Visa's Flex Credential platform continues to flourish, now catering to millions of users worldwide.

Flex Credential technology allows a single card to toggle between different payment methods, such as debit, credit and buy now, pay later options.
Additionally, a partnership with Klarna will introduce this technology to the US market and establish Europe's first debit-to-buy now, pay later service.

Visa has unveiled two new services targeting distinct segments of the payments ecosystem in emerging markets.

Visa Pay aims to connect digital wallets with Visa's merchant network, facilitating both local and international transactions across online and in-store retail spaces.

This service is set for initial beta testing in selected Asian, European and Latin American markets soon.

Similarly, Visa Accept will empower micro-merchants to process payments using standard smartphones equipped with near-field communication capabilities.

This solution will initially be introduced to beta partners in July, focusing on Latin America and Asia.

Ryan emphasises that payment infrastructure remains central to commerce innovations: "For any AI commerce use case to take hold, the payment is a critical enabler of success. If there is no payment, there is no commerce. That's the expertise and trust that Visa brings."

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