Visa bets on AI agents to make payments

Visa, the world’s largest payments technology company, is betting its future on artificial intelligence (AI) agents and systems being able to make autonomous buying decisions on behalf of consumers.

On Wednesday, the company, which provides card and payments services to all major banks in SA, announced a new suite of technologies that will allow AI systems to make payments on behalf of human customers in e-commerce transactions. 

Picture a mother giving her daughter a bank card with the instruction to plan and pay for a weeklong holiday trip. This would entail researching destinations, creating an itinerary, comparing accommodation options, finding the best flights and perhaps buying special outfits. Once decided, payments need to be made for the various items. 

Until now, AI systems have demonstrated the ability to do all of this in minutes — except for the payment. That responsibility has, understandably, been reserved for humans.

The global payments giant aims to change this, making it possible for AI to transact. 

“Soon people will have AI agents browse, select, purchase and manage on their behalf,” Visa’s chief product and strategy officer, Jack Forestell, said.

“These agents will need to be trusted with payments, not only by users, but by banks and sellers as well.

“Just like the shift from physical shopping to online, and from online to mobile, Visa is setting a new standard for a new era of commerce,” said Forestell.

“Now, with Visa Intelligent Commerce, AI agents can find, shop and buy for consumers based on their preselected preferences. Each consumer sets the limits, and Visa helps manage the rest.”

Visa is counting on its large network of about 14,500 banks and more than 150-million merchants worldwide to drive the concept. 

The company’s move is in line with a recent finding by technology investor Prosus that e-commerce is on the cusp of a fundamental shift.

“As AI enters the marketplace ecosystem, we’re already seeing the next frontier: agentic e-commerce, where AI agents will make autonomous purchasing decisions for buyers and sellers,” the Naspers subsidiary said in a recent report, done in collaboration with Dealroom.co, a Dutch research firm.

“This could fundamentally alter the nature of marketplaces.”

AI investment has grown exponentially in recent years, driven by the rapid adoption and popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT since it was launched in November 2022.

Technology companies have since sought to capitalise on the trend through AI-backed services or software platforms, while others are benefiting from the growing demand for hardware to power such systems.

Paradigm shift

E-commerce marketplaces are set to benefit greatly from AI as the technology reduces friction and barriers to entry as it takes advantage of scale, while helping to increase competition, according to the report. 

Agentic AI signifies a paradigm shift in artificial intelligence, moving beyond reactive systems to autonomous entities capable of perceiving their environment, setting goals, making independent decisions and taking actions to achieve those objectives without constant human oversight.

These intelligent agents leverage reasoning, learning and adaptability to handle complex tasks, interact with tools and proactively address challenges across diverse sectors such as customer service, healthcare, finance and autonomous systems, offering a future in which AI can operate with greater independence and problem-solving capabilities.

gavazam@businesslive.co.za