Visa says it has completed hundreds of real transactions initiated by AI agentsmarking an early test of a (near) future where software can move from shopping recommendations to payments without a human having to click through the checkout process.
The transactions were conducted with partners in Visa’s payment ecosystem and took place on live systems, rather than in demonstrations or simulations. According to the company, they demonstrate that AI-driven purchases can be completed securely using existing payment infrastructure, as long as the agent operates within predefined controls.
Research from Visa shows that 47 percent of U.S. consumers now rely on AI tools for at least one shopping-related task, such as comparing prices, finding alternatives, or receiving personalized recommendations.
While these tools no longer pay for items today, Visa believes that discovery and decision-making are already moving away from traditional search and manual browsing. This is something that OpenAI also firmly believes in.
AI agents that handle payment
Once AI systems are trusted enough to suggest what to buy, the company believes it’s just a small step for them to also handle payment. In fact, Visa predicts that by holiday 2026, millions of consumers will use AI agents to complete purchases on their behalf, instead of manually entering payment information or clicking through the checkout process.
That shift would fundamentally change the way payment systems work. Instead of responding to a human user at the point of sale, the system would need to recognize and authorize a software agent to act on instructions from the cardholder, such as spending limits, approved merchants or product categories.
This effort falls under Visa Intelligent Commerce, an initiative aimed at supporting AI-enabled and AI-initiated payments. Visa says the project builds on technology it already uses for fraud detection and transaction monitoring, although the “user” initiating the payment is no longer always a person.
“We see impressive progress in how AI will transform commerce, with many real-world transactions completed by Visa’s deep network of partners,” said Rubail Birwadker, SVP, Head of Growth Products and Partnerships at Visa. “This holiday season marks the end of an era. By 2026, AI agents will not only help you shop, but complete your purchases, made possible by Visa’s global scale, standards leadership and unparalleled commitment to securing agent-to-agent commerce.”
What makes the update most remarkable is that Visa goes beyond theory. The company says it has more than 100 partners involved worldwide, with more than 30 build tools in the sandbox environment. More than twenty AI agents or agent platforms integrate directly with Visa Intelligent Commerce, and hundreds of verified transactions have already taken place live.
In the US, several early pilots are running in closed beta. Some focus on consumer use cases, where AI agents recommend products and then complete purchases through browser-based automation. Others focus on enterprises, where AI handles recurring payments or large-scale transactions while staying within existing card payment frameworks.
says Visa these pilots demonstrate that agent-driven transactions can function end-to-end, from intent to authorization, without requiring changes to the underlying payment rails.
The company is also preparing to expand its trials internationally. Pilot programs are expected to start in early 2026 in parts of Asia-Pacific and Europe. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Visa says it is working with merchants to support AI-initiated purchases in the coming year. In the Middle East, the company is working with partners to enable AI agents to manage routine payments, such as recurring service fees.
Safety and trust are key. Merchants already deal with large amounts of automated traffic, much of it malicious. Visa says it has introduced a Trusted Agent Protocol with more than ten partners to help distinguish legitimate AI agents acting on behalf of consumers from unauthorized bots. The protocol is designed to work with existing web infrastructure and supports authenticated, agent-driven checkout.
Akamai has joined the initiative and integrated the protocol with its bot detection and behavioral analysis tools to help merchants identify which AI agents are authorized to conduct transactions, without opening stores to automated abuse.
The bigger question is whether consumers are willing to have software complete purchases on their behalf. While agent-driven checkout can save time and reduce friction, it can also make spending feel less conscious, especially for people who already struggle with budgeting or impulse buying.
For now, Visa suggests the shift will happen gradually. Discovery is already moving towards AI-enabled tools. Checkout could be next. If the company’s timeline holds, AI-initiated purchases may not feel unusual by the end of 2026.
How do you feel about AI agents completing purchases for you? Let us know in the comments.
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