Visa and OpenAI have announced a strategic partnership to integrate secure, tokenized payment capabilities directly into AI-driven commerce experiences. Revealed at the Visa Payments Forum in San Francisco, the collaboration positions Visa as a central player in a future where AI agents autonomously initiate and complete transactions on behalf of users.
Under the “Visa Intelligent Commerce” framework, developers and merchants will be able to accept Visa payments inside OpenAI-powered environments. Tokenized credentials, tied to specific AI agents and spending rules, replace traditional card numbers. Each transaction is governed by user-defined controls such as spending limits, merchant category restrictions, and real-time authorization, with Visa providing fraud monitoring and security infrastructure.
“AI agents are expected to become active participants in commerce,” said Jack Forestell, Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer. OpenAI’s head of partnerships for commerce, Marco Mahrus, emphasized the focus on “secure, transparent, and user-controlled agentic transactions.” The initiative reflects a broader industry shift toward embedded finance.
The news comes as OpenAI confidentially filed a draft S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering. The company, last valued at approximately $852 billion, generates about $30 billion in annualized revenue but faces substantial infrastructure costs. Meanwhile, OpenAI is reportedly weighing price cuts for its AI models as competition with Anthropic intensifies; Anthropic recently closed a Series H at a $965 billion valuation.
Separately, Visa reported a dramatic surge in stablecoin settlement volume. Its annualized run rate reached $7 billion as of March 2026, doubling from $3.5 billion in late November 2025. The growth signals rising institutional interest in blockchain-based settlement systems, particularly for cross-border payments and liquidity management.
Market reaction remained cautious, with Visa shares slipping slightly as analysts weighed adoption speed, regulatory uncertainties, and competitive fintech pressures. Still, the twin narratives of AI-powered payments and accelerating stablecoin usage underscore Visa’s effort to modernize global money movement infrastructure.
