Visa, Mastercard launch AI tools for online shopping

Visa and Mastercard have introduced new AI initiatives aimed at improving online shopping experiences.

Visa’s initiative, called “Intelligent Commerce,” enables AI agents to shop and make purchases for consumers based on their preferences.

The company is collaborating with several tech firms, including Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Stripe, to develop this shopping technology.

Mastercard has launched its “Agent Pay” solution, which integrates payments into AI-based recommendations provided through conversational platforms.

🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ AI shopping marks culmination of years-long retail transformation

The Visa and Mastercard announcements represent the culmination of years of AI development in retail, not a sudden innovation.

AI adoption in retail has been growing at a remarkable 40% compound annual growth rate, with projections showing the market will exceed $8 billion by 2024 1.

This progression follows a clear pattern: retailers first implemented AI for backend operations before gradually moving to consumer-facing applications, with 87% of retailers already deploying some form of AI technology 2.

What we’re seeing now is the natural extension of this evolution, with AI moving beyond recommendation systems to actually executing transactions on consumers’ behalf.

The involvement of major tech players like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic in Visa’s initiative shows how payment networks are positioning themselves at the intersection of commerce and artificial intelligence.

2️⃣ Consumers increasingly ready for AI shopping agents despite trust concerns

Surprisingly, consumers appear more prepared for this shift than the industry might have anticipated just a few years ago.

Research shows 71% of consumers now actively want generative AI integrated into their shopping experiences, driven by preferences for hyper-personalization 3.

This represents a significant behavioral shift, with 58% of global consumers already replacing traditional search engines with AI tools for product recommendations 3.