AI Shopping is taking a major step towards mainstream adoption as Visa unveils new products designed to enable artificial intelligence agents to search, select and pay for goods and services on behalf of consumers.
The global payments company also announced expanded stablecoin settlement capabilities and enhanced tokenisation infrastructure, reflecting growing industry efforts to integrate artificial intelligence and blockchain technology into everyday financial transactions.
The products were unveiled ahead of the Visa Payments Forum in Paris, where the company outlined its vision for a digital economy powered by intelligent, programmable and increasingly autonomous commerce.
According to Visa, the latest innovations are aimed at helping banks, fintech firms, merchants and payment providers across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa adapt to emerging payment trends driven by AI and digital assets.
“Commerce is entering a new phase that is increasingly intelligent, programmable, and embedded into everyday experiences,” said Tareq Muhmood, Regional President for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“For companies serving the digital economy, the opportunity is significant, but so is the need for trust and interoperability.”
Stablecoin Settlement Expands Across Visa Network
Beyond artificial intelligence, Visa is also increasing its investment in blockchain-based payments.
The company disclosed that it is expanding stablecoin settlement programmes across additional blockchain networks, currencies and markets.
Stablecoins are digital assets whose value is typically pegged to traditional currencies such as the US dollar, making them less volatile than many cryptocurrencies.
According to Visa, it has processed billions of dollars in stablecoin transactions through VisaNet and recorded an annualised run rate of approximately $7 billion as of March 2026.
The payments giant said issuing banks are already settling transactions on blockchain networks seven days a week, with plans to extend those capabilities to acquiring banks.
Visa also reported that stablecoin settlement volumes across the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region have increased nearly 60-fold since the service was introduced a year ago.
The figures highlight growing institutional interest in blockchain-powered payment infrastructure, particularly for cross-border transactions and faster settlement processes.
Tokenisation Becomes a Core Payments Technology
Visa’s latest announcement also underscores the rapid growth of tokenisation across the payments industry.
Tokenisation replaces sensitive card information with unique digital identifiers, reducing exposure to fraud and cyberattacks.
According to Visa, tokenised transactions represented 70 per cent of all Visa transactions in the CEMEA region in 2026, compared with 26 per cent in 2023.
The company is now expanding the intelligence embedded within payment tokens by including additional information about transaction types, usage patterns and customer identity signals.
Visa also introduced a new token assurance signal that evaluates payment tokens throughout their lifecycle, including provisioning history and behavioural activity.
The enhanced capabilities are expected to improve security in increasingly automated payment environments where AI systems initiate and manage transactions.
The solution would allow banks to convert traditional customer deposits into programmable digital money while keeping funds on their balance sheets.
This approach could provide financial institutions with access to blockchain functionality without requiring them to abandon conventional banking systems.
Visa said more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programmes are already operational or under development globally.
These programmes allow consumers and businesses to spend stablecoin balances anywhere Visa cards are accepted, creating a bridge between digital assets and traditional payment networks.
AI Shopping Could Change How Consumers Buy Online
The rise of generative AI and autonomous software agents is creating new possibilities for digital commerce.
Rather than manually searching websites and completing purchases, consumers could increasingly rely on AI-powered assistants to compare products, identify deals and complete transactions based on predefined preferences.
Visa said artificial intelligence is already changing how payments are initiated, authorised and secured, creating demand for infrastructure capable of supporting AI-driven transactions.
To address this shift, the company introduced Visa Intelligent Commerce, a platform designed to provide security controls and verification mechanisms for transactions initiated by AI agents.
The platform seeks to ensure that AI-enabled purchases remain secure, transparent and aligned with user preferences.
Consumers and businesses need assurance that AI agents acting on their behalf are authentic, secure and operating within approved parameters.
To tackle this challenge, Visa launched Agent Score, a solution developed with New Generation that helps merchants evaluate whether their websites are ready for AI-driven commerce.
The tool assesses whether AI agents can navigate digital storefronts, interpret information and complete purchases effectively.
Visa also introduced Agentic Directory, a verification platform that helps identify legitimate merchants and authorised AI agents participating in digital commerce.
The company said the initiatives are intended to improve transparency and reduce fraud risks as AI adoption accelerates across payment ecosystems.
As AI agents become more sophisticated, identity verification and transaction trust are expected to become critical components of future commerce infrastructure.
