Visa is introducing a ‘trusted agent protocol’ aimed at protecting merchants from malicious bots when conducting transactions with AI agents.
The latest initiative marks significant progress in Visa’s agentic commerce strategy, unveiling new security protocols and pilot programs that build on previous partnerships. Visa’s Intelligent Commerce suite includes features such as tokenization, authentication, payment instructions, and transaction signals, enabling AI-powered agents to shop and pay on behalf of consumers.
With these advancements, AI agents will soon be able to use Visa’s 4.8 billion credentials at millions of merchant locations globally. This capability allows consumers to instruct their AI agents to book travel or purchase movie tickets, all executed securely.
To enhance confidence in the agentic ecosystem, Visa is rolling out the Trusted Agent Protocol to help merchants recognize and verify reliable AI agents. This protocol employs agent-specific cryptographic signatures for secure transactions, helping to distinguish legitimate agents from malicious bots while preserving visibility of the consumer behind the agent.
Designed as an open, low-code solution, the protocol allows merchants to integrate it seamlessly without needing to overhaul their existing infrastructure.
T.R. Ramachandran, head of products and solutions for Asia Pacific at Visa, stated: “Agentic commerce is transforming the landscape of online payment transactions, necessitating a unified ecosystem to fully realize its potential. With Visa Intelligent Commerce and the Trusted Agent Protocol, Visa is connecting consumers, AI agents, and merchants through secure, scalable solutions, ensuring each interaction is verified and transparent.”
Visa plans to launch Intelligent Commerce pilots across Asia Pacific by early 2026. Additionally, they have introduced Scan to Pay for QR payments in digital wallets and banking apps throughout the region. This expansion is part of the broader launch of Visa Pay, a service connecting participating digital wallets to Visa-accepting merchants worldwide, allowing consumers to tap, scan, or pay online using their chosen wallets and payment apps.