*Blog updated as of 16/03/2026
The pace of change in AI is staggering – and shopping is next in line for transformation. With over a billion people using generative AI platforms every month¹ and shopping already the second most common use of the technology², the appetite for agent‑led commerce is clear.
Agentic commerce is where AI “agents” can browse, compare options, apply your preferences and then pay, all within rules you set. AI that can search and compare is a powerful start, but without payments it is more like window shopping. Agentic commerce becomes truly powerful when those same agents can also complete the transaction securely – turning intent into purchase, not just recommendations.
Think of it as a trusted digital concierge. You tell your agent what you need - a family city break in August, under a certain budget, near a park - and it does the hard work: searching, planning and booking. Instead of endless tabs and forms, you get a short list of great options or even a completed booking that fits your life.
As AI agents start to make more decisions, expectations around trust, security and transparency do not go away - they get higher. People will want to know: who is this agent acting for, what can it actually do, and how is my data treated?
How Visa is helping make agentic commerce possible
Visa Intelligent Commerce is putting the payments “plug” into agentic commerce, so agents can complete purchases as safely as a traditional card transaction. If you can do it with your Visa card today, your agent should be able to do it tomorrow - with the same security, acceptance and protections behind the scenes. Visa Intelligent Commerce brings together Visa’s network, intelligence and APIs so banks, fintechs, wallets and developers can build these new agent experiences on top of what already works.
Programmability is key here. It means payment credentials and rules can be set up so that an agent can automatically reflect a person’s choices - for example which account to use in which scenarios, how to apply instalments or rewards and what risk checks to trigger – without adding extra friction at checkout. In practice, people set their preferences, and banks and payment providers turn those preferences into simple rules and controls that an AI agent can follow every time it pays.
Bringing trust to AI agents: Trusted Agent Protocol
For agentic commerce to scale, merchants need to tell the difference between a good AI agent acting for a real customer and a bad bot trying to commit fraud. Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol is designed to help do exactly that.
It gives participating AI agents a way to prove who they are and that they are acting with a consumer’s consent when they interact with a merchant. That means merchants can welcome traffic from trusted agents, keep their bot defences high, and still benefit from more sales going through, fewer false declines and fewer disputes.
Trusted Agent Protocol is built to work with the security tools that merchants and acquirers already use, so agent-initiated transactions can run over familiar rails and slot into existing systems. Visa is playing an active role in how these new agent capabilities are defined, helping to ensure they can plug into today’s commerce landscape and earn the trust of everyone who uses them.
A safer way to say “it’s me”
As AI agents start to take on more of the shopping journey, knowing “who is really behind this transaction” becomes even more important. That is why Visa is pairing agentic commerce with Visa Payment Passkeys.
Visa Payment Passkeys are built on a simple idea: you are the password. Instead of relying on things that can be guessed, stolen or shared - passwords, security questions, even card numbers - passkeys use highly secure credentials such as your face, your fingerprint or other biometrics to verify it is really you.
This shift away from static credentials enhances both security and convenience. You no longer need to remember complex passwords, and fraudsters have a much harder time impersonating you when they need a live biometric or devicebound credential rather than just a string of numbers. Products like Visa Payment Passkey make the experience almost invisible: a quick look at your phone or a fingerprint scan, and your agent can move ahead with what it needs to do.
How passkeys, tokens and agents work together
In an agentic world, passkeys work alongside Visa’s tokenisation and intelligent commerce capabilities. When an AI agent sets up a new payment token on your behalf, Visa Payment Passkeys can be used to securely authenticate you at that moment, ensuring the token is created with your full consent, tied to the right device and identity.
The same applies when a transaction needs extra reassurance. If a purchase is high value, unusual for you, or just something you want to double-check, your agent can ask you to confirm it, and Visa Payment Passkeys provide that extra layer of security. The result is a flow where agents can get on with everyday tasks most of the time, but you remain firmly in control at key decision points.
What this unlocks for the ecosystem
For consumers, agentic commerce promises simpler, more personalised lives: everyday tasks like shopping, booking travel or managing subscriptions can be handed to trusted agents, with Visa Intelligent Commerce, Trusted Agent Protocol and Visa Payment Passkeys helping to keep every transaction secure and under their control.
For merchants and acquirers, agentic commerce is a chance to grow - in the same way going online once opened doors to customers around the world. AI agents can bring ready-to-buy customers straight into their digital “front door”, while existing tools like tokenisation, strong authentication and fraud controls keep payments safe and journeys smooth. Over time, that can mean more sales going through, fewer good customers being turned away by mistake, and new ways to build relationships with people who may never visit via a traditional website or app.
For issuers and other payment providers, agentic commerce is a chance to stay close to their customers as more of shopping becomes automated - shaping how people pay, adding new features and keeping payments safe. More broadly, if agent-driven experiences can grow in a secure, trusted way, they can help unlock new growth for the economy by making it easier for people and businesses to buy, sell and move money with less hassle and more confidence.
All brand names, logos and/or trademarks are the property of their respective owners, are used for identification purposes only, and do not necessarily imply product endorsement or affiliation with Visa.
- https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-one-billion-people-using-ai
- The Economist, “How AI is disrupting shopping”, December 8, 2025