Visa brings OpenAI into AI commerce push with stablecoin upgrades

Visa has introduced new AI, stablecoin, and token capabilities at Visa Payments Forum 2026.

The company said the tools will help clients support faster and more automated commerce. The updates cover agentic payments, token assurance, stablecoin settlement, and tokenized deposits.

Visa expands AI commerce tools

Visa Chief Product and Strategy Officer Jack Forestell said AI and stablecoins are changing money movement. “AI is transforming the front end of commerce,” Forestell said. He added that stablecoins are changing the back end of payments. Forestell said Visa wants to support these systems with security, reliability, and global scale.

Visa Intelligent Commerce will support agentic commerce, where AI agents act for users. The platform gives agents controls, connectivity, and tools to complete trusted transactions. The company also introduced Agent Score with New Generation. The tool helps merchants check whether AI agents can navigate and complete tasks on their websites.

Visa also announced an Agentic Directory for verified agents and merchants. The directory helps merchants identify trusted agents and helps agents confirm legitimate merchants. Visa said it has formed a strategic partnership with OpenAI. The collaboration will support secure Visa payments inside agentic commerce experiences across OpenAI.

Token upgrades target digital payments

Visa also announced token upgrades for AI-driven commerce. The company said tokens will carry more data, context, and assurance during digital transactions. Current payment tokens already include secure data for digital payments. Visa plans to add more details about transaction type, token use, and payment origin.

The company also introduced a token assurance signal. Visa argued that the signal uses provisioning and behavioral history to measure trust behind each transaction. These upgrades will give issuers more signals for approval decisions. Visa said they can help reduce false declines for merchants and reduce friction for consumers. The company said AI-driven commerce needs credentials with stronger identity and permission signals. It also said trust should move across devices, channels, and use cases.

Visa also demonstrated early work from Crypto Labs and developer teams. One proof of concept lets AI agents pay for digital services through a terminal. “We believe a growing share of creation and transactions will be led by developers using AI tools,” Forestell said. He said Visa wants cards to work well in the command line.

Stablecoin settlement gains scale

Visa also outlined progress on stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement. The company said it will build a technology layer for tokenized deposits. That layer would let banks turn traditional deposits into programmable digital money. Visa said banks can match stablecoin speed while keeping funds on balance sheet.

As reported by crypto.news, Visa is actively expanding stablecoin settlement pilots across regions, blockchains, and currencies. The company said it has moved billions of dollars in stablecoins across VisaNet. As of March 2026, Visa said its stablecoin settlement run rate reached about $7 billion. Issuing banks already settle onchain with Visa seven days a week. The company is also working to extend seven-day settlement to acquirers. Visa said this would increase flexibility and settlement frequency across its network. 

Visa also continues to expand stablecoin-linked card programs worldwide. The company said more than 160 programs are live or in development. For clients modernizing systems, Visa pointed to modular and cloud-native services. It named Pismo, Unified Checkout, and Visa Intelligent Authorization as part of that effort. “History is filled with innovations that never reached scale,” Forestell said. He added that trust, security, and global reach decide which systems succeed.