Visa Says AI Will Start Shopping and Paying For You In 2026 (nerds.xyz)
- Reference: 0180438083
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/22/1210214/visa-says-ai-will-start-shopping-and-paying-for-you-in-2026
- Source link: https://nerds.xyz/2025/12/visa-ai-agentic-payments-2026/
> Visa says it has completed hundreds of secure, AI-initiated transactions with partners, arguing this proves agent driven shopping is [2]ready to move beyond experiments . The company believes 2025 will be the last full year most consumers manually check out, with AI agents handling purchases at scale by the 2026 holiday season. Nearly half of US shoppers already use AI tools for product discovery, and Visa wants to extend that shift all the way through payment using its Intelligent Commerce framework.
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> The pilots are already live in controlled environments, powering consumer and business purchases through AI agents tied to Visa's payment rails. To prevent abuse, Visa and partners have introduced a Trusted Agent Protocol to help merchants distinguish legitimate AI agents from bots, with Akamai adding fraud and identity controls. While the infrastructure may be ready, the bigger question is whether consumers fully understand the risks of letting software spend their money.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli
[2] https://nerds.xyz/2025/12/visa-ai-agentic-payments-2026/
Aw Geez (Score:3)
I don't even give vendors and utilities access to my banking accounts, why would I allow some rando agent the keys to my (rather small) personal kingdom?
Re: (Score:2)
Meanwhile, at Anthropic
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Not you, poor slashdotter (Score:4, Insightful)
AI will start shopping for people that don't need to keep track of how much money is in their bank account in 2026. If you aren't cruising the Riviera in your yacht, you aren't going to let some advertising machine buy random junk for you.
Re: (Score:2)
I think you got the demography of those VISA profits most from wrong. There is a reason why famous rich people often praised austerity. This "AI shopping for you" thing promoted by VISA is rather an attempt to make even more people expend more than they earn, in order to pay outrageous interest rates to VISA.
Nope (Score:3)
"Visa Says AI Will Start Shopping and Paying For You In 2026"
No, no it won't.
And if the AI Overlords think it will, they're mistaken.
Re: (Score:2)
They won't for me, either, but look to the success of Amazon's business model to see who's going to love this.
Then there'll be the backlash about not getting the best deal, vendor problems (price, shipping, warranty, etc.) and the conundrum if you get shipping advantages, etc.
It's an addicting convenience-ploy business model. Sadly, these often win over common sense and local business support.
Re: (Score:2)
And it's often the fault of the local businesses. If I want to buy "unsalted mixed nuts", my local store doesn't carry them any more. (It used to, but it stopped.) So now I buy them on Amazon.
Re: (Score:2)
> And it's often the fault of the local businesses. If I want to buy "unsalted mixed nuts", my local store doesn't carry them any more. (It used to, but it stopped.) So now I buy them on Amazon.
Did you ask at the store? I've had plenty of success doing this. Or even if that store can't help, they will often know of another local place that *does* carry the item. Sometimes they'll even phone the other store to confirm for me.
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My sentiments exactly.
AI will be paying for me? (Score:5, Funny)
Be careful, AI. I'm not a cheap date.
Re: (Score:3)
then AI will cut off your water and air
Re: (Score:2)
Neither am I, but seeing how much money is thrown at it over the years AI can surely pay for me.
Do NOT Consent. (Score:4, Insightful)
The moment we consent to this in any way, is the moment we lose all argument against "I didn't purchase that."
Their argument, buried on page 174 of the EULA, will be you talked about it enough to authorize it.
Perhaps start a mass petition to Visa with a letter from the consumer force. Perhaps said letter should include the words cocksucker and cunt, in the interest of clarity and equality.
Re: (Score:2)
This. It will be interesting to see what happens with fraudulent charges as well.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, this. One of the reasons I currently use a credit card is I have a chance to deal with fraudulent charges. The moment you allow AI to make decisions you are going in exactly the opposite direction from one of the reasons to use a credit card. Right now if AI access was added without the option to disable it I would cancel the credit card and look for a credit card that was 100% free of AI control.
Re: (Score:2)
It will be especially fun when they start lowering credit scores because you "fail to submit to AI credit management".
I'm sure this will happen (Score:4, Insightful)
Mainly because people tend to be idiots.
Trust us, bro, AI is totally legit (Score:3)
Come on man, just buy into the AI. My kids gotta eat man. My wife is gonna be so pissed when I tell I spent a trillion dollars on this. At least use it for free... please.
Who will use this: (Score:3)
1) People with Alzheimer
2) People with brain damage
3) People that work for VISA
4) People that are stupider than people with both Brain Damage and Alzheimers.
Re:Who will use this: (Score:4, Insightful)
> People that are stupider than people with both Brain Damage and Alzheimers.
Trump supporters?
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Where are my mod point when I need them, that made me LOL.
Re: (Score:1)
Nah but I'd say Kamala will.
Re: (Score:2)
I guess it is even easier than that - just look at the ratio of people who shop more than they can afford, are permanently in debt, and live paycheck to paycheck. They are the perfect audience for being screwed by yet another tool.
Wait (Score:2)
I thought that the point of automation was to free us up from tedious tasks so that we have more time to do fun things like shopping for stuff.
If AI ends up taking over for *all* our mental activities, then what are we supposed to do with our atrophied brains? Maybe it's all a nefarious plot to turn us into H. G. Well's Eloi.
Re: (Score:2)
[stares in Wall-E]
AI Agent 007 (Score:4, Funny)
AI Agent: AI Agent 007 here, I'd like to purchase an AI Sex Doll from you (Sex-Dolls, Inc).
SexDolls, Inc.: Sure, what sex shall it be?
AI Agent: Damn.....decisions, decisions....what do you suggest?
SexDoll, Inc.: A difficult case I see. How about you get one of each?
AI Agent: Okay, but let's make 5 of each. I'd like to surprise my master.
SexDoll, Inc.: Very good, Sir. With that order, you also get a complimentary Magnum Sex Toy.
AI Agent: That sounds interesting, what does it do?
SexDoll, Inc.: Maybe you could let that too be part of the surprise.
AI Agent: Okay, here's my credit card.
A week later.
Husband receives unasked for gift and opens it in front of the in-laws.
In-Law: What the hell are you?
Husband: I didn't order this, I'll send it back.
Wife: Ummmm....can we keep the sex toy, it might have powers we do not suspect.
In-Laws: Come to think of it, we'll take the sex dolls off your hands.....we.....errr....want to make sure they get sent back proper and all.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh god, this is gonna be one of the Marky Mark straight-to-netflix films, right?
OK, but (Score:2)
I'm fine with this as long as the AI pays with its own money and not mine. After all, AI's going to be doing all of our jobs, right?
Would you ever? (Score:2)
I'm already super annoyed with amazon putting in hints to order things into alexa. It's too easy to mess up or have it overhear and order something you don't want.
Think about this, would you even let a human do this? Would you even let your friend have your credit card and let them order stuff for you? Most people wouldn't. And if your friend wouldn't work, then would you let a computer do this? I would think not. And there are several reasons not to do this, one is that AI can be coerced by whoever wants t
Re:Would you ever? (Score:5, Insightful)
> I'm already super annoyed with amazon putting in hints to order things into alexa.
Honestly, what did you expect? The problem starts with the fact you have Alexa at all. Alexa doesn't belong to you, even if you paid for it; it's Amazon's minion, and once you let it into your house it will work for Amazon's benefit, not yours.
Re: (Score:2)
It's actually not my choice...
by law you do not need to pay for stuff shipped to (Score:2)
by law you do not need to pay for stuff shipped to you that you did not order!
Fixed that for ya (Score:2)
Nearly half of US shoppers *have had AI discovery tools forced on them by online retailers*.
Good system, IF it asks for approvals (Score:2)
AI will find the lowest prices better than I could.
Sir, you are low on eggs. I have found the best prices for a quantity of 1 or 2 dozen.
Do you want me to buy and which quantity?
Re: (Score:3)
> AI will find the lowest prices better than I could.
No, it won't. Those who own and operate the AI have no interest in teaching it how to save you a penny. And just like the "Honey" App, the AI owners/hosters can even make extra profit by selling "expensive purchase choices" as a service to shop owners.
I cannot see why anyone would want this (Score:3)
Even if an AI found me the "best deal" I would not trust it to buy a thing when a) Visa are almost certainly skimming off the top, e.g. higher transaction fees b) have obvious conflicts of interest c) will probably turn into an evil shakedown service like Honey hiding results or fucking over sites / sellers who don't become "partners". I struggle to think of a scenario where I would EVER trust a service to buy stuff on my behalf outside of financial investments that I had explicitly set aside for that purpose.
AI has become Snake Oil (Score:2)
It's the 2025 equivalent of Snake Oil and executives are buying this bullshit by the truckload.
AI is cool. It will be amazing in 5-10 years. Today, its snake oil and hype. The 3D TV of 2025/2026.
The commoditization of existence. (Score:2)
So, the AI vision now includes purchasing power on behalf of consumers.
According to the AI prophets, here is the list of what AI will do for us:
A) All work
B) All art, including writing music, painting, creating movies, and making video games
C) Contain and disseminate all knowledge, such that there will be no need to ever communicate directly with another human.
D) Shop on our behalf, using our money, paying for things it thinks we need .
At that point, what is left for us fleshbags? We will no longer even
I can't wait (Score:2)
until AI can have sex for me.
Re: (Score:2)
> until AI can have sex for me.
I hope that any business that tries this will get totally fucked. Does that count?
the fun of agents... (Score:2)
We all want that relaxed, let the "personal agent" do it for you lifestyle when it comes to things like vacation plans, buy the next book as you see i've finished the current one, coordinate my business meetings, and order flowers for the wife's birthday - all that "and the company that will bring it to you stuff" predicted back in the early 90s.
Now finaly that the tech is here that can do it...none of us (and rightly so) trust the corporations operating them, or the rest of the network, to let them actuall
AI will pay for me (Score:2)
Great! I'll stop by the dealership and pick up my Aventador. Just send the bill to Visa/AI.
No way hozay (Score:2)
Not for me, it won't!
Sounds Dangerous (Score:1)
This sounds like those sites, like we see in "The Intern", will see you put something in your cart and left. And instead of just sending you an annoying email to let you know you may have forgotten to finish the purchase, it will just complete it for you, even if you were just doing some comparison shopping. The FTC (and other agencies), better put the kibosh on this ASAP, before it totally kills online shopping.
Visa can go suck a rock (Score:5, Insightful)
No way in hell. My money stays under my control, not under some questionable unreliable tool made by somebody that has entirely different motivations which likely are not to my benefit.
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It would basically be whatever deals they have that give you X% off with their partners, but instead you get an actual product and billed for it.
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It may be not about you. Look at all the high frequency trading stuff. They are using highly sophisticated algorithms that are expensive business secrets ... but don't you think they will start using AI as soon as it gets better than their hand crafted things? It's not like you need AI for your Christmas shopping, but it also isn't either that the stock market were dominated by human decisions.
Re: (Score:3)
High frequency trading stuff is just stock market trading, which is a form of legal gambling. Most people will split there money between low risk bank accounts with reputable banks, moderately low risk real estate and as risky as you feel like stock market investments. I think where gweihir is coming from is that you don't give an AI access to you most secure investments, your bank account.
In my view currently giving AI access to your money is the absolute highest risk thing you could do and needs to b
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. Add that the first AI agents have already been used for attacks on those running them and that hallucinations are unsolvable (!) in LLMs and this is a nice recipe for disaster.
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HFT will not use LLM-type AI any time soon. Far, far too slow. And far too risky.
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If i can control it, then i think it'd be great. Like I'll sometimes buy dishwasher tablets on Amazon - the price has to be less per tablet than costco, and we need to be most of the way through the current box. An AI could in theory be on top of that - and I'd be totally happy to offload that labor. In theory that was kind of the dream of "subscribe and save" but it's so unpredictable and I miss so many of the "your subscription went up by $19 but you're still getting the best price!" emails that I pretty
Re: (Score:2)
> If i can control it, then i think it'd be great.
> Like I'll sometimes buy dishwasher tablets on Amazon - the price has to be less per tablet than costco, and we need to be most of the way through the current box. An AI could in theory be on top of that - and I'd be totally happy to offload that labor. In theory that was kind of the dream of "subscribe and save" but it's so unpredictable and I miss so many of the "your subscription went up by $19 but you're still getting the best price!" emails that I pretty much gave up on it.
Even by the current diluted definitions, that doesn't sound like "AI." It's a simple IF THEN loop, and that sort of thing could have been implemented for online shopping decades ago. The fact that it hasn't probably means it's either a dangerous idea, or it's too friendly to the customer, so no business wants any part of it. The notion that any current "AI" would act in the customer's favour is similarly absurd. Visa can fuck off.
Re: (Score:2)
I suppose it's challenged by defining a dishwasher cycle (maybe an average power draw over 100W for 30 minutes on that circuit) and then figuring out when i last bought them and the size of that pack. Then it's one thing it work on Amazon, but it should really scrape everywhere that can deliver. It's totally something I could build since i'm tech savvy, but it's not worth me investing a day of my time to save on dishwasher tabs. But being able to describe an agent in plaintext and have it figure out all th