Consumers Use AI Assistants but Hesitate to Hand Over Their Wallets

# Consumers Use AI Assistants but Hesitate to Hand Over Their Wallets

> Evidence tier: B1
> Evidence type: Independent payments-trade report checked against Visa's primary Trust Index release and disclosed survey methodology
> Source: [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/consumers-use-ai-assistants-hesitate-hand-over-their-wallets)
> Published: 2026-09-09
> Captured: 2026-09-09T17:00:06.986Z

## Source summary

PYMNTS reports on Visa's U.S. Trust Index for agentic commerce. Visa says 72% of surveyed consumers had used an AI assistant, while 23% trusted generative AI to handle payment transactions on their behalf. When asked about payment brands, 61% said they would trust Visa to handle agentic transactions. The survey was conducted for Visa by Harris Poll from May 26-28, 2026 among 2,065 U.S. adults matched to Census benchmarks; the payment-brand question used roughly half of that sample per brand tested.

## Why it matters

The result quantifies a specific adoption constraint for agentic payments: consumers may use AI for discovery while withholding payment authority. It is a commissioned U.S. opinion survey, not observed checkout behavior, transaction volume or evidence that Visa's agentic products caused trust. Question wording, brand familiarity and Visa sponsorship may affect responses, and the findings should not be generalized to other countries without local evidence.

## Key numbers

- **U.S. adults surveyed:** 2,065
- **Consumers who had used an AI assistant:** 72%
- **Consumers trusting generative AI to handle payments:** 23%
- **Consumers saying they would trust Visa for agentic transactions:** 61%

## Topics and entities

- Industry lane: Agentic payments
- Entities: Visa
- AI-native finance
- Payment infrastructure

## Evidence and credibility note

Readable PYMNTS report checked against Visa's primary release and methodology note. Percentages and sample details are confirmed as Visa-commissioned Harris Poll results; they measure stated U.S. attitudes, not observed payment behavior or causal product effects.

Date evidence: PYMNTS article metadata timestamp 2026-09-09T16:10:15Z; Visa's primary release is dated September 9, 2026 at 07:00 EDT

## First-party corroboration

- [https://visa.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/new-visa-research-finds-consumer-trust-accelerating-path-agentic](/en/items/https://visa.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/new-visa-research-finds-consumer-trust-accelerating-path-agentic)
- [https://corporate.visa.com/en/sites/visa-perspectives/innovation/visa-trust-index-trust-powers-agentic-commerce.html](/en/items/https://corporate.visa.com/en/sites/visa-perspectives/innovation/visa-trust-index-trust-powers-agentic-commerce.html)

## Original-source traceback

[Open the original PYMNTS report](https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/consumers-use-ai-assistants-hesitate-hand-over-their-wallets)

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This is a structured Payments Hot Markdown source summary derived from external reporting. Use the original link above to read the publisher's article; copyright remains with the original publisher.