Visa Launches New Tools to Help Developers Build AI Agents for Engaging in Commercial Activities

Visa has announced the continued expansion of its capabilities in what the company refers to as "agent commerce," enhancing its Visa Smart Commerce platform. This AI-driven payment solution enables AI agents to shop and make purchases autonomously.

The Smart Commerce platform was launched by Visa at the end of April, offering developers access to application programming interface (API) resources that allow AI platforms and agents to interact with the company's payment network.

Today, Visa unveiled two new tools for its agent commerce platform: the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which enables developers to connect AI agents to the platform, and a pilot version of the Visa Acceptance Agent Toolkit.

"In the near future, people will rely on AI agents to browse, select, purchase, and manage tasks on their behalf," said Jack Forestell, Visa's Chief Product and Strategic Officer. "These agents will need not only the trust of users but also of banks and merchants."

Agents are AI software solutions that go beyond the typical question-and-answer functionality of chatbots, offering more than just text or image responses. They are capable of executing complex, multi-step tasks with minimal or no human oversight. Agent AI represents a shift in the role of artificial intelligence in daily life, moving closer to technology that can both interpret natural language instructions and perform actions using available tools. It lays the groundwork for proactive, action-oriented AI assistants.

Visa envisions a future in which individuals will request AI agents to handle payments and invoicing on their behalf. To make this a reality, tools must exist that allow AI agents not only to navigate the web and locate shopping links—similar to what companies like Google and OpenAI are exploring—but also to make purchases and payments autonomously.

The toolkit, built upon the MCP server, offers a developer-friendly solution that streamlines the process of building and connecting AI agents to the Visa network. It can also be used directly via an AI software development kit (SDK).

The MCP server enables AI applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic PBC's Claude to connect to and utilize software tools without requiring integration code. By opening up the MCP server, Visa allows AI agents to securely connect directly to the company’s payment infrastructure, access APIs, and test commerce operations.

The Visa Acceptance Agent Toolkit is now available in a pilot program and includes a comprehensive set of workbooks and integration libraries that allow developers and businesses to quickly build AI applications. It features pre-built workflows for common commercial tasks like invoicing and link-based payments. Additionally, it supports simple language prompts, enabling both professional developers and non-technical users to trigger actions with basic commands.

For example, a merchant support agent could be instructed to "generate an invoice for John Doe for $155.55, due on Friday" and would then invoke the invoicing API, input the details, and submit a secure payment—all without manual development, according to Visa.

Similarly, an accountant or analyst could request an agent to provide a revenue summary of all invoices for the week, including unpaid ones. The agent would then securely retrieve the invoice information and report the transaction data accordingly.