Global payments company Visa has introduced a new international initiative aimed at helping banks and payment providers prepare for a shift towards AI-driven, agent-led commerce across Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA).
The programme, called Visa Agentic Ready, is designed to support the growing use of artificial intelligence agents that can carry out transactions on behalf of consumers.
Production-grade testing phase
Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s head of products & solutions for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the first phase of the initiative focuses on helping card issuers become “agent-ready” by giving them a controlled environment to test and understand how AI-initiated payments would work in practice.
This includes simulating real-world transaction flows where digital agents complete purchases for users, while ensuring that security, fraud protection and user control remain in place.
Sullivan company said the aim is to allow financial institutions to experiment with these new payment models without exposing customers to risk, while still operating within a production-grade testing environment.
Importance of trust and security
He said the region is showing strong interest in innovation, but stressed the importance of maintaining trust and security as payment systems evolve.
“Across CEMEA, we see a strong appetite for innovation, but also a clear need to ensure new payment experiences are introduced in a way that is secure and scalable. As AI begins to play a greater role in commerce, issuers will be central to building consumer confidence.
“Visa Agentic Ready gives our clients a practical way to understand, test, and prepare for agent-initiated payments, supported by the security, controls and network capabilities that have long underpinned Visa’s trusted payment network,” said Sullivan.
The initiative uses Visa’s existing network technologies, including tokenisation, identity verification, risk management tools and payment controls. These systems are being combined to explore how AI agents could safely initiate payments on behalf of consumers in different use cases.
Growing industry interest
The rollout includes participation from a wide group of banks and fintech firms across the region, reflecting growing industry interest in preparing for automated commerce systems.
Early participants in the programme include major financial institutions such as First National Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Emirates NBD among others.
Sullivan said more partners are expected to join the initiative later this year as the programme expands.
He said the Agentic Ready programme reflects a shift towards what he described as a more intelligent and programmable payment systems, where transactions can respond dynamically to user intent, context and permissions.
He said Visa is working with global AI platforms, merchants and developers to ensure that agent-led payments can be introduced safely and at scale.
- Visa has launched the "Visa Agentic Ready" programme to help banks and payment providers in Central Europe, the Middle East, and Africa prepare for AI-driven, agent-led commerce.
- The initiative provides a controlled testing environment for card issuers to simulate and understand AI-initiated payments while ensuring security, fraud protection, and user control.
- The programme emphasizes maintaining trust and security as AI plays a greater role in commerce, using Visa’s existing technologies like tokenisation and identity verification.
- Early participants include major regional banks like First National Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and Emirates NBD, with plans to expand the partnership base.
- Visa aims to enable intelligent, programmable payment systems that dynamically respond to user intent and permissions, collaborating with AI platforms, merchants, and developers for safe, scalable deployment.
Global payments company Visa has introduced a new international initiative aimed at helping banks and payment providers prepare for a shift towards AI-driven, agent-led commerce across Central Europe, the
Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s head of products & solutions for Central and Eastern Europe,
Sullivan company said the aim is to allow financial institutions to experiment with these new payment models without exposing customers to risk, while still operating within a production-grade testing environment.
He said the region is showing strong interest in innovation, but stressed the importance of maintaining trust and security as payment systems evolve.
“Across CEMEA, we see a strong appetite for innovation, but also a clear need to ensure new payment experiences are introduced in a way that is secure and scalable. As AI begins to play a greater role in commerce, issuers will be central to building consumer confidence.
“Visa Agentic Ready gives our clients a practical way to understand, test, and prepare for agent-initiated payments, supported by the security, controls and network capabilities that have long underpinned Visa's trusted payment network,” said Sullivan.
Early participants in the programme include major financial institutions such as First National
Sullivan said more partners are expected to join the initiative later this year as the programme expands.
He said the Agentic Ready programme reflects a shift towards what he described as a more intelligent and programmable payment systems, where transactions can respond dynamically to user intent, context and permissions.
He said Visa is working with global AI platforms, merchants and developers to ensure that agent-led payments can be introduced safely and at scale.
