The e-commerce world is steadily entering a brand new era known as “agentic commerce.” In this model, consumers increasingly rely on autonomous AI agents to do their shopping for them. To streamline this process for everyone involved, Visa introduced Intelligent Commerce Connect. The solution is designed to act as a universal bridge, linking merchants, AI software developers, and payment platforms through a single integration.
To me the biggest surprise of the new service is its technological openness. While the solution is part of Visa’s portfolio, the system will integrate not only its own APIs but also the interfaces of other networks. This means AI bots will be able to pay for our purchases using both Visa cards and those issued by its competitors. The system is also token-agnostic, which protects merchants from vendor lock-in with any single technology provider.
Another feature that will directly impact how we shop online is making inventory available inside the bots themselves. Thanks to the new service, merchants will be able to plug their catalogs – complete with stock levels, pricing, and specs – directly into AI platforms. For the user, this means they can discover a product, configure it, and finalize the payment without ever leaving the AI chat window.
To ensure AI agents can seamlessly “talk” to merchants, the platform currently supports key market protocols, such as the Trusted Agent Protocol, Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), and Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). Visa is also taking the regulatory burden off its partners’ shoulders by handling compliance with the rigorous PCI security standard.
“From small businesses to the world’s biggest retailers, Visa powers how people pay every day, millions of times over,” commented Andrew Torre, President of Value-Added Services at Visa. He added: “Intelligent Commerce Connect brings that same, trusted payment acceptance infrastructure into the emerging world of AI-driven commerce, so businesses can let AI agents buy on behalf of consumers, securely and at scale.”
The new service is currently in its pilot phase. Visa is already testing it alongside select market partners, including brands like Aldar, AWS, Diddo, Highnote, Mesh, Payabli, and Sumvin. The company plans to roll out the platform to additional partners later this year.