Visa builds trust protocol for agentic commerce

The latest initiative delivers fresh progress on Visa’s agentic commerce strategy by introducing new security protocols and pilot programs that are ready to build upon earlier partnerships and initiatives.

Visa’s Intelligent Commerce suite currently incorporates features like tokenisation, authentication, payment instructions, and transaction signals, allowing AI-powered agents to shop and pay on behalf of consumers.

Visa says that AI agents will soon be able to transact using Visa’s 4.8 billion credentials at millions of merchant locations worldwide. This means consumers could instruct their AI agent to book travel or buy movie tickets, and have the entire purchase executed securely.

As part of an effort to build confidence in the agentic ecosystem, Visa is introducing Trusted Agent Protocol to help merchants to recognise and verify trusted AI agents. It uses agent-specific cryptographic signatures to ensure secure, verified transactions to prevent fraud by distinguishing legitimate agents from malicious bots, and helps to maintain visibility of the consumer behind the agent – preserving customer relationships.

The protocol is designed as an open, low-code solution for merchants to integrate seamlessly without overhauling their infrastructure.

T.R. Ramachandran, head of products and solutions, Asia Pacific, Visa, says: “Agentic commerce is transforming the very fabric of online payment transactions, requiring a unified ecosystem to unlock its full potential. With Visa Intelligent Commerce and its cornerstone, Trusted Agent Protocol, Visa is connecting consumers, AI agents and merchants through secure, scalable solutions. This ensures every interaction is verified and transparent, empowering all parties of the purchase to embrace this future with confidence.”

He says Visa plans to launch Intelligent Commerce pilots across Asia Pacific by early 2026.

In a separate devlopment, the card scheme has also gone live with Scan to Pay for QR payments in digital wallets and banking apps across Asia Pacific.

The expansion is part of the broader launch of Visa Pay, a service that connects participating digital wallets to Visa-accepting merchants globally – across in-store and online channels. With Visa Pay, consumers can tap, scan, or pay online using their preferred wallets and payment apps.