TL;DR:
- Visa used Payments Forum 2026 to highlight tokenization, AI and stablecoins as core infrastructure for programmable commerce.
- Its AI initiatives include Visa Intelligent Commerce, Agent Score, an Agentic Directory, an OpenAI collaboration and a Large Transaction Model.
- Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement pilots after moving billions across VisaNet, with a $7 billion annualized run rate, while more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs are live or developin globally.
Visa used its annual Payments Forum 2026 to place tokenization, artificial intelligence and stablecoins at the center of its next commerce push. The company announced new AI, stablecoin and token capabilities designed to help clients handle faster, more automated payments while keeping trust and control intact. Jack Forestell, Visa’s chief product and strategy officer, framed the shift bluntly: AI is changing the front end of commerce, while stablecoins are reshaping the back end. The message is that payments are becoming programmable infrastructure, not just card transactions moving through familiar rails.
Programmable commerce moves from theory to payment rails
Visa’s AI plan focuses on agentic commerce, where software agents can discover products, initiate purchases and complete transactions for consumers or businesses. Visa Intelligent Commerce is meant to provide the controls and connectivity for that environment, supported by Agent Score for merchant readiness, an Agentic Directory of verified agents and merchants, and a strategic OpenAI collaboration for secure payments inside agent-led experiences. The company also introduced a Large Transaction Model trained on billions of transactions to improve fraud detection, authorization performance and false-decline rates. The practical challenge is making autonomous payments feel trustworthy, before they scale.
Tokenization is the bridge between those AI experiences and payment credentials. Visa said it is enriching tokens with more context about transaction type, usage location and payment initiator, while adding token assurance signals based on provisioning and behavioral history. These signals are meant to help issuers make sharper authorization decisions, reduce false declines for merchants and keep friction lower for consumers. The credential is being redesigned to carry trust with it, across devices, channels and transactions that may be initiated without a human actively clicking every step.
Stablecoins form the other side of the announcement. Visa said it is expanding settlement pilots across regions, blockchains and currencies after moving billions of dollars in stablecoins across VisaNet, with an annualized run rate of about $7 billion as of March 2026. It also plans technology for tokenized deposits, letting banks turn traditional deposits into programmable, always-on digital money while keeping funds on balance sheet. More than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs are live or in development globally. The bigger question is whether incumbents can modernize without replacing themselves, and Visa’s answer is modular infrastructure that connects old payment systems with programmable money at their own pace globally.
