New Visa Research Finds Consumer Trust is Accelerating the Path to Agentic Commerce

Evidence tier: A1 Evidence type: Auto-discovered official publication Source: Visa Newsroom Official publication date: 2026-09-09 Captured: 2026-10-05T04:59:07.948Z

Consumers rank Visa as the most trusted brand to deliver AI-powered commerce.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 9, 2026-- Visa (NYSE: V) today announced the Visa Trust Index for agentic commerce, providing new insight into how consumers are navigating the next evolution of AI shopping and payments. While consumers are increasingly using AI across the shopping journey, only 23% of U.S. consumers trust GenAI to handle payment transactions on their behalf. However, confidence in agentic commerce shifts when payments brands come into consideration. Visa emerged as the most trusted brand for AI-powered payments with 61% of respondents saying they would trust Visa to handle agentic transactions. The findings suggest that while consumers are intrigued by agentic commerce, trust remains the key factor determining whether adoption moves from possibility to reality.

"AI has the potential to fundamentally reshape how people discover, buy and pay for goods and services, much like e-commerce and mobile commerce did before it," said Oliver Jenkyn, Group President, Visa. "While we're still in the early days, trust will be foundational to driving agentic commerce adoption. Consumers will increasingly look to trusted payment experiences and brands as they deploy AI agents to shop on their behalf.”

Trust Will Unlock the Promise of Agentic Commerce

The Visa Trust Index found that consumer adoption of AI is already widespread, with 72% of consumers having used an AI assistant. Yet when it comes to agentic commerce, trust becomes increasingly important in the path to adoption. As AI continues to change the way people discover and shop, trust will shape how they pay.

Visa’s research looked across multiple sectors, including payments, technology and social media, and found that Visa was the most trusted brand for AI-powered payments among respondents surveyed. Visa maintained this leadership across key demographic groups, rising to 68% among consumers ages 18 to 34 and 71% among frequent AI users.

The findings suggest that consumers distinguish between the AI tools they use and the payment brands they trust. While consumers may engage with a range of AI assistants and platforms, trusted payments remain central to their willingness to complete transactions in agentic environments.

"Throughout every major shift in commerce, from the growth of e-commerce to the rise of mobile payments, trust provides stability and certainty to consumers as the world changes around them," Jenkyn said.

Building the Foundation for AI-Powered Commerce

For more than 60 years, Visa has helped enable new forms of commerce by delivering the security and reliability consumers expect when making payments. As agentic commerce continues to evolve, Visa is working with partners across the ecosystem to help establish the capabilities, standards and infrastructure needed to support secure, permissioned agent-initiated transactions.

Through Visa Intelligent Commerce and related initiatives, Visa is helping prepare the payments ecosystem for the next generation of digital commerce through technologies that support secure transactions, identity verification, authentication, and consumer controls.

According to the Visa's Trust Index, consumers are beginning to define what they expect from the companies that will help power the next era of commerce. As AI transforms how people discover, shop, and transact, Visa will continue to track consumer sentiment and help build the trusted foundation for the future of commerce.

Learn more about Visa's leadership in building the trusted infrastructure for agentic commerce at Visa Payments Frontier and on the Visa Newsroom.

Methodology

This survey was conducted on behalf of Visa by the Harris Poll using its Omnibus survey platform - a recurring bi-weekly survey tool that can accommodate ad hoc questions at a moment’s notice for quick turnaround.

The survey was fielded May 26 - 28, 2026, in the United States. Respondents are matched to the US General Adult population based on the US Census. The total sample size was 2,065 US consumers. The payment transaction question sample was 1,028 – 1,034 per brand tested.

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260909232260/en/

Media Contact Conor Febos CFebos@visa.com

Source: Visa Inc.