Visa and Mastercard launch AI payments - each in their own way

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing consumer behavior—and now it is reaching the world of payments. While Visa is already conducting initial tests with AI-driven payments, Mastercard is working in parallel on the technical infrastructure for a world in which digital agents can independently process orders and transactions. On April 30, 2025, Visa announced the "Visa Flexible Credentials" program – a pilot project in which AI agents will have direct access to the Visa payment network for the first time. In collaboration with partners such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic, Perplexity, and Mistral, digital assistants will in future be able to order and pay for products independently – according to Visa, under...