Visa launches Agentic Ready program in Europe

TALLINN - Visa, a leading digital payments provider, has launched its Agentic Ready program in Europe to help banks and merchants prepare for commerce powered by artificial intelligence, where AI agents can initiate and complete purchases on behalf of consumers.

The program offers partners the opportunity to test and develop secure payments initiated by AI agents in a controlled environment. The focus is on security, reliability, and the use of existing payment solutions, such as tokenization and biometric authentication.

"As time goes on, AI agents will increasingly shape how people select goods and make purchases. This means that payments must also keep pace with this change," said Mathieu Altwegg, Head of Products and Solutions at Visa Europe. "Agentic Ready will help Visa card issuers in Europe prepare for secure and large-scale agent-initiated payments that rely on a trustworthy base infrastructure."

The program will test how payments made by AI agents function in real-world scenarios and how to ensure their security and scalability. The solution combines identity, risk management, and control mechanisms to ensure that the user always maintains final control.

"Commerce based on AI agents will change how consumers interact with payment solutions. Through the Visa Agentic Ready program, we are helping our European partners prepare for this change, continuing to focus on security, trust, and control," said Helene Bredesen, Head of Product for Visa in the Nordics and Baltics.

The program is part of Visa's broader strategy to develop intelligent and automated commerce. Several European banks and financial institutions have already joined, including Alpha Bank, Barclays, DZ Bank, HSBC, Revolut, Santander, and others.