Visa has announced its collaboration with companies including Ant International, Grab, and Tencent to enhance secure payment experiences powered by AI.

This marks its key initiative Visa Intelligent Commerce, which offers integrated APIs and a partner program for AI-driven commerce.

Separately, Visa also announced advancements in stablecoin-backed transactions. The company has partnered with DCS Singapore, DTC Pay, and StraitsX to provide stablecoin-backed cards.

🔗 Source: Visa

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ APAC’s explosive payments growth attracts strategic AI integration

The Asia Pacific payments market is experiencing unprecedented expansion, with card payments alone projected to reach $24.7 trillion in 2025, growing 4.3% year-on-year 1.

This growth is complemented by the broader fintech sector, expected to reach £171.32 billion in 2025 and nearly double to £359.83 billion by 2030 2.

Visa’s new Intelligent Commerce initiative strategically positions the company to capitalize on this growth by connecting its established infrastructure, processing 310 billion transactions annually across 150 million merchant locations 3, with emerging AI capabilities.

The company’s partnerships with regional giants Ant International, Grab, and Tencent reflect a recognition that AI-powered commerce requires deep local integration in a region where payment preferences vary significantly by country.

These collaborations illustrate how established payment networks are adapting to an increasingly competitive landscape.

2️⃣ The shift from plastic to AI agents represents the third major payment transformation

Visa’s announcement signals the beginning of the third major transformation in payment history: from physical cards to AI-powered purchasing agents.

The first transformation occurred with the introduction of credit cards in 1958 4, while the second saw digital payments surpass cash, growing from 27% to over 50% of global transactions 5.

Now, AI agents integrated into popular platforms will be able to make purchase decisions on behalf of consumers using Visa’s 4.8 billion credentials, fundamentally changing how discovery and purchasing happen.

This shift parallels broader industry trends, as 96% of Asia Pacific fintech companies are prioritizing financial inclusion 6, suggesting that AI-enabled commerce could expand access while streamlining transactions.