Visa CEO Says AI Shopping Has Arrived but Agentic Payments Haven’t

Artificial intelligence is currently reshaping how your customers research products, but it hasn't yet taken over the actual checkout process. Visa CEO Ryan McInerney notes that while 'AI shopping' is here, 'agentic payments'—where an AI bot makes a purchase on a human's behalf—are still a work in progress. For retailers, this means the immediate opportunity lies in using AI to guide customers toward specific products and financing options during the discovery phase. Currently, consumers are using LLMs to compare prices, read reviews, and find the best value. However, the 'last mile' of the transaction still requires a human to pull out a card or click a BNPL button. Visa is focusing on the infrastructure to ensure these future automated payments remain secure. For your business, the focus should remain on making your financing offers easily discoverable by AI search tools. If an AI agent is helping a customer find a 'low-monthly-payment sofa,' your financing program needs to be part of the data that the AI pulls. The transition to fully autonomous buying will eventually happen, but for now, AI is a powerful tool for lead generation rather than a replacement for your current payment gateway.

Source: PYMNTS

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