Visa's new certification program enhances banks' readiness for AI-driven transactions across Europe and beyond.
Visa is taking significant steps to enable the future of commerce through its new certification program, the Agentic Ready Program. This initiative qualifies exchanges-and-raises-concerns-over-token-issuance/">blockchain-cooperative-under-rl1-initiative/">European banks as agent-ready payment issuers, laying the groundwork for autonomous agent transactions. This transition marks the progression from theoretical discussions to practical applications in payment systems.
The program was highlighted during a pivotal event on July 2, 2026, when a live agentic payment transaction was successfully executed in Germany. Collaborators Worldline, ING, and Visa showcased their ability to navigate complex functions such as product identification, consumer authentication via Visa Payment Passkeys, and standard authorization protocols. The success of this trial underscores that existing payment rails are not the primary obstacle to deploying agentic payments. As Tim Joslyn, CTO of Paymentology, pointed out, a staggering 99% of issuer processing systems worldwide are already capable of handling these transactions. The real challenge lies in the legacy infrastructure of issuing banks, rather than technical limitations.
Visa’s Agentic Ready certification represents a critical shift in how banks approach agent-initiated transactions. The program seeks to standardize operations in this new domain by validating essential processes such as card enrollment, tokenization, and authentication. By instituting these standards, Visa is taking necessary, albeit understated, steps toward bringing agentic commerce into the mainstream.
This approach contrasts sharply with the strategies adopted by Mastercard. While Visa is formalizing a certification pathway that covers Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada, and CEMEA, Mastercard has opted for a sandbox model with its Proto initiative in the UK that favors experimentation. Additionally, in the US market, Visa is leveraging its Intelligent Commerce strategy through broad partnerships and live transactions, skipping the formal certification process utilized in Europe. This bifurcation indicates that while the technical capacity for processing these payments is widespread, complexities surrounding governance for risk and liability remain a divisive factor.
Despite advancements in technology, the industry grapples with a substantial psychological barrier. A report from Product.ai, released in April 2026, reveals that only 14% of consumers currently trust AI to execute purchases without verification. Alarmingly, 42% of consumers express reluctance to trust AI for transactions exceeding $25. This hesitation significantly hinders the growth potential for agentic commerce. Therefore, even if the issuer layer is fully optimized, addressing user experience concerns is imperative.
To counteract this pervasive skepticism, Visa is introducing biometric authentication and passkeys. These features are not merely enhancements for secure transactions; they also serve as critical concessions acknowledging that consumers are still hesitant to relinquish control to autonomous agents.
Visa’s rollout strategy for the Agentic Ready program is substantial, with over 85 partners actively engaged in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Major Canadian institutions, including BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD, have joined the effort. In the CEMEA region, partnerships have expanded to include more than 30 organizations such as Emirates NBD, Mashreq, Qatar National Bank, and Discovery Bank. As these institutions weave the certification into their operations, maintaining reliability remains paramount.
Andrew Rankin, Chief Payments Officer at HSBC UK, addressed the importance of collaboration, stating, “We are pleased to be working with Visa to design and test a secure, reliable and fast new agentic payments ecosystem.” Similarly, Rom Jackson of Revolut remarked, “As AI evolves into an active shopping tool, the underlying payment infrastructure must keep pace.” For regional players such as Commerzbank, this initiative signifies an important milestone in the evolution of digital commerce.
Looking ahead, Visa anticipates that millions of consumers will employ AI agents for their purchasing needs by the 2026 holiday season. However, the success of these transactions hinges less on the sophistication of AI agents and more on the reliability and capacity of the underlying issuer-layer infrastructure. As Mathieu Altwegg, Head of Product Solutions at Visa Europe, emphasized, “As AI agents increasingly shape how people shop and buy, payments need to keep up.”
The industry has undoubtedly moved beyond discussions about the convergence of settlement layers. The primary determinants of success now revolve around the integration of identity frameworks and effective consumer trust management. As transaction volumes rise in anticipation of the 2026 holiday season, observers should monitor which approach—Visa's certification model or Mastercard's sandbox strategy—proves to be more effective at scale.
As we analyze the shifting landscape of agentic payments, it is clear that Visa's Agentic Ready program is a significant stepping stone toward a future where autonomous AI agents play an integral role in consumer transactions. By addressing both technical and psychological barriers, Visa positions itself at the forefront of this new payment paradigm. The road ahead will require continued innovation and adaptiveness from all stakeholders in the ecosystem—banks, merchants, and consumers alike—as they navigate this exciting, yet challenging, transition to AI-driven commerce.
What is the Agentic Ready program?
Visa's Agentic Ready program certifies banks as capable of handling autonomous agent payment transactions, standardizing their operations.
How does consumer trust impact agentic payments?
A significant number of consumers remain skeptical of AI's role in transactions, with many unwilling to trust AI for purchases without verification.
What regions are affected by Visa's rollout?
The Agentic Ready program has been launched across Europe and parts of Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada, and CEMEA, encompassing a broad array of partnerships.