After the revolutions of cards, e-commerce, and m-commerce, the next great leap in payments is here — Agentic AI. Poised to transform how consumers shop, pay, and manage money, the global market for Agentic AI in commerce is projected to reach $175 billion by 2030.
At the Global Fintech Fest 2025, Visa, a global leader in digital payments, launched its whitepaper titled ‘Automation to Autonomy: How Agentic AI is Revolutionizing Payments’. The paper explores how intelligent AI agents can anticipate user needs, make decisions, and execute transactions within guardrails of consent, security, and spending limits.
According to the report, 75% of global retailers expect AI agents to be critical for competitiveness by 2026. Visa calls on issuers, acquirers, and merchants to collaborate in shaping this new AI-powered ecosystem that prioritizes frictionless, personalized, and secure payment experiences.
Consumers Want Intuitive Payments — But Trust Is Non-Negotiable
As AI becomes embedded in everyday life, consumers are turning to it for smoother shopping and payments — with 47% expressing interest in AI-powered commerce agents. These agents could autonomously plan trips, manage bookings, and handle disruptions while optimizing payment choices like rewards, BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), and loyalty redemptions.
However, Visa emphasizes that trust remains central to this innovation. AI-driven fraud management agents can dramatically reduce false positives, automate verifications, and allow human teams to focus on complex investigations — combining efficiency with security.
“Agentic AI is more than a technological advancement; it is a revolution in how we engage with commerce,” said Sushmit Nath, Head of Visa Consulting & Analytics, India & South Asia. “We see this as an opportunity to empower consumers with greater choice and control, while helping businesses unlock new value. We are building a future where trust, security, and consumer empowerment are at the forefront.”
Visa Builds the Rails for Secure, Scalable AI Commerce
To enable safe adoption, Visa is developing Visa Intelligent Commerce, a platform designed to power secure, autonomous transactions. With 79% of consumers voicing data privacy concerns, the platform provides a framework to ensure transparency, accountability, and control.
By combining tokenized credentials, issuer validation, and network-level safeguards, Visa extends the benefits of tokenization to AI transactions. Real-time decisioning, AI-ready APIs, user-set spending rules, reversible transactions, and mandatory confirmations will form the backbone of a consent-driven, secure AI payments infrastructure.
Collaboration and Inclusion at the Core of the AI Era
Agentic AI will reshape how banks, fintechs, merchants, and consumers interact — driving intelligent, real-time transactions that reduce fraud, cut cart abandonment, and enhance personalization. With its AI-ready infrastructure and APIs, Visa enables partners to innovate securely and at scale, improving both customer engagement and operational efficiency.
Visa believes that trust, transparency, and inclusion will define success in this new era. By working closely with regulators, technology partners, and financial institutions, the company is laying the foundation for an intelligent, secure, and inclusive future of commerce — where AI agents act not just on behalf of consumers, but in their best interests.