Visa and Mastercard introduce new ai-powered shopping features

Visa, Mastercard integrate AI for enhanced shopping ease.

: Visa has introduced 'Intelligent Commerce,' leveraging AI to automate shopping and purchases as per user preferences. Mastercard's 'Agent Pay' offers similar AI-driven shopping capabilities, integrating payment solutions into consumer conversations. Both companies are collaborating with tech firms like Microsoft and IBM to enhance these AI functionalities. PayPal and Amazon are also advancing in AI-powered shopping, showcasing varied AI-technological engagements.

Visa announced their new feature, 'Intelligent Commerce,' that will empower AI agents to execute shopping tasks on behalf of consumers according to their pre-determined preferences. The implementation of this feature is suggested to make shopping experiences more personalized, secure, and convenient. Jack Forestell, Visa's chief product and strategy officer, mentioned that although constraints are set by consumers, Visa manages the transactions, ensuring ease for their users.

Visa is partnering with several major players in technology to develop this AI shopping experience, including Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Samsung, and Stripe. These collaborations aim to refine the integration of AI into Visa's systems to ensure seamless functionality and user satisfaction.

Mastercard has unveiled their 'Agent Pay' feature, designed to bolster AI interactions by integrating payment capabilities into everyday conversations. This service aims to enhance customer experiences by tailoring shopping recommendations linked to generative AI platforms. A prime example shared by the company was for consumers planning significant events, where the AI agent curates product suggestions based on style, venue, and forecast predictions, coupled with appropriate payment suggestions like Mastercard One Credential.

Mastercard's expansion into AI is facilitated by collaborations with companies like Microsoft, IBM, Braintree, and Checkout.com. Their goal is to scale 'agentic commerce' practices, evolving the retail landscape by embedding AI-driven commerce into daily lives. Efforts are being directed to ensure these technologies are scalable and robust, supporting various user scenarios.

The AI shopping landscape is not exclusive to Visa and Mastercard, as PayPal also announced similar innovations. They launched their own agentic commerce initiative, while Amazon is in the test phase of their 'Buy for Me' feature, which deploys AI to conduct shopping operations at third-party stores. Notably, AI firms like OpenAI and Perplexity are contributing significantly to this development landscape, offering diverse applications and improvements in consumer shopping experiences.

Sources: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Amazon, TechCrunch

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