As the world steps into a more intelligent digital economy, global payment leaders Visa and Mastercard are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform commerce. Both companies are rolling out groundbreaking innovations that redefine how businesses and consumers interact with payments—delivering faster, safer, and smarter transactions.
Mastercard Launches Agent Pay: The Future of Personalized AI Transactions
Mastercard has unveiled Mastercard Agent Pay, the centerpiece of its Agentic Payments Program, which uses agentic AI to enhance user experiences across the payment ecosystem. This technology enables intuitive and secure transactions for consumers, merchants, and issuers through generative AI (GenAI) interactions.
Smarter AI for Smarter Payments
With Mastercard Agent Pay, users can now engage with GenAI chatbots to:
Plan events
Curate product purchases
Discover venues
Receive tailored payment recommendations.
Once the preferences are set, the agent can even complete the purchases on behalf of the user—streamlining both planning and payment.
Enhanced Features for Businesses
For enterprises, Agent Pay provides advanced capabilities such as
Sourcing and payment optimization
International logistics management
Cross-border transaction acceleration
Mastercard is also integrating its tokenization technology to authenticate customers and enable secure, consistent shopping experiences.
Strategic Partnerships Powering Agent Pay
The rollout includes collaborations with:
Microsoft: To co-develop AI use cases within Agent Pay
IBM: To strengthen B2B payment capabilities
Braintree, Checkout.com: For boosting tokenization in checkout platforms
Additionally, Mastercard Agentic Tokens ensure security and consumer control while transacting with trusted agents, laying the groundwork for trusted agentic commerce.
Broader Ecosystem Moves
Mastercard is expanding its reach with
Partnerships with OKX and Nuvei to support stablecoin transactions
Investment in Corpay’s cross-border unit
A global tie-up with MoneyGram for near real-time payments
Launch of CIBC Adapta Mastercard in Canada, a smart card that adapts rewards based on user spending patterns
Visa Debuts Intelligent Commerce: AI That Finds and Buys
Not to be outdone, Visa has introduced Visa Intelligent Commerce, a platform designed to let AI agents shop, purchase, and manage transactions for users in a secure and personalized way.
Empowering Trusted AI Shopping
“Soon, AI agents will browse, select, and pay on behalf of users,” said Jack Forestell, Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer. With Visa Intelligent Commerce, consumers can set shopping preferences while Visa handles the rest—ensuring seamless and secure payments.
Built on over 30 years of AI and machine learning expertise, the solution leverages Visa’s network to:
Enable AI-powered shopping experiences.
Reduce fraud risks
Personalize checkout experiences
Collaborations with AI Pioneers
Visa is working closely with leading AI innovators like
- Anthropic
- IBM
- Microsoft
- OpenAI
- Mistral AI
- Samsung
- Stripe
These partnerships fuel the platform’s ability to support a global suite of secure APIs and integrated commerce experiences.
Key Features of Visa Intelligent Commerce
- AI-Ready Cards: Replaces traditional card numbers with tokenized digital credentials.
- AI-Powered Personalization: Enhances user journeys with tailored recommendations.
- Secure AI Payments: Enables consumers to set spending limits and controls.
Visa aims to replicate the success of physical-to-online commerce in this new AI-driven era.
Stablecoin Innovation: Bridging Traditional and Crypto Payments
Visa also made headlines with its partnership with Stripe’s Bridge, introducing a new card-issuing product for stablecoin-linked Visa cards. This innovation allows fintech developers to offer cards in multiple countries via a single API integration.
With this move:
- Consumers can make everyday purchases using stablecoin balances.
- Over 150 million merchants globally can now accept these transactions.
“Partnering with Bridge is a significant step towards making stablecoins usable in daily life,” added Forestell.
Final Thoughts: AI Is Reshaping the Payments Landscape
Visa and Mastercard’s strategic AI integrations signify a major leap toward intelligent commerce. From AI chatbots that plan your shopping to tokenized credentials enhancing security, the payments industry is undergoing a massive transformation.
Whether you’re a consumer enjoying frictionless purchases or a business unlocking operational efficiency, AI-powered payments are the future—and that future has arrived.
