Artificial intelligence could soon do more than answer questions. It may also shop and pay for people. That is the future Visa is preparing for after unveiling a range of new payment technologies powered by AI and blockchain at its annual Payments Forum. The company said the new tools will help banks, businesses and consumers make payments faster, safer and smarter across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA).
The announcement comes as tokenised payments have grown rapidly in the region, rising from 26% of transactions in 2023 to 70% in 2026.
One of the biggest launches is Visa Intelligent Commerce, a platform built for what the company calls “agentic commerce”, where AI agents can search for products, compare prices and complete purchases on behalf of users.
The platform includes Agentic Directory, which verifies trusted AI agents and merchants, and Agent Score, a tool developed with New Generation that helps businesses check whether their websites are ready for AI-powered shopping.
Visa is also upgrading its tokenisation technology. Payment tokens will now include more information, such as where a payment is made, the type of transaction and whether it was started by a person or an AI agent.
The company has also introduced Token Assurance Signal, which tracks a token’s history over its lifetime to help banks detect fraud, approve more genuine payments and reduce false declines.
Visa is also expanding its use of blockchain technology.
The company said it has now processed billions of dollars in stablecoin transactions through VisaNet, reaching an annual settlement run rate of about $7 billion by March 2026. In the CEMEA region, stablecoin settlement volumes have grown nearly 60 times over the past year.
Another new product, Tokenized Deposits, allows commercial banks to turn traditional deposits into programmable digital money that works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while keeping customer funds on their own balance sheets.
Visa also said more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programmes are live or being developed, allowing customers to spend stablecoins anywhere Visa is accepted.
The company also launched Visa Trip Intelligence in the CEMEA region.
The AI-powered service uses VisaNet transaction data and third-party information to predict when a customer is planning to travel. Banks can then help prevent payment problems abroad, reduce fraud alerts and offer personalised travel rewards.
Tareq Muhmood, Regional President for Visa CEMEA, said commerce is becoming more automated and that trusted payment systems will be essential. “Commerce is moving into an increasingly programmable phase where trust and interoperability are vital. We are focused on providing the infrastructure our clients need to innovate confidently across the entire payment journey.”
