Visa announced expanded stablecoin settlement pilots and new AI-driven commerce features at its annual payments forum on Wednesday. The payments network said it is extending its stablecoin settlement pilots across various regions, blockchains, and currencies, while introducing tokenization and artificial intelligence tools designed to support automated transaction environments. Jack Forestell, Visa's chief product and strategy officer, stated during a keynote presentation that AI is transforming the front end of commerce and stablecoins are reshaping the back end. Visa has moved billions of dollars in stablecoins through VisaNet, with the annualized run rate reaching $7 billion as of March 2026 according to the company's Wednesday statement.
Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlement Pilots Across Regions and Blockchains
Visa said in a Wednesday statement that it is expanding its stablecoin settlement pilots across various regions, blockchains, and currencies. The company reiterated that it has moved billions of dollars in stablecoins through VisaNet, with the annualized run rate reaching $7 billion as of March 2026.
Issuing banks are already settling seven days a week onchain with Visa, according to the statement. Visa said it is working to extend seven-day settlement to include acquirers, increasing flexibility and frequency across the entire ecosystem.
Forestell stated that Visa's role is to enable stablecoins to work securely, reliably and at global scale, for every participant in the ecosystem.
Visa Builds Tokenization and AI Features for Programmable Commerce
Visa said it will build the technology layer for tokenized deposits, allowing banks to turn traditional deposits into programmable, always-on digital money while keeping funds on their balance sheets.
The company said it is enriching token data to provide more details on tokenized transaction types and token location, alongside a token assurance signal. Visa stated that the token assurance signal evaluates token use throughout its lifecycle to generate a trust score for each transaction. The company added that these features give issuers stronger signals for authorization decisions and help merchants reduce false declines.
Visa introduced Agent Score, which lets merchants evaluate whether AI agents can navigate and complete tasks on their websites. The company has also launched Agentic Directory, a verified registry of agents and merchants that Visa has approved as legitimate participants in agentic commerce.
Visa unveiled Large Transaction Model, an AI model trained on billions of transactions. The company said the model is designed to improve fraud detection while increasing authorization performance and reducing false declines.
The rollout is part of the payments network's plan to address a structural shift toward agentic commerce, where automated AI agents initiate transactions on behalf of consumers and enterprises, according to the company.
Visa Partners with OpenAI to Enable AI Agent Payments
Visa said in a separate Wednesday statement that it has partnered with OpenAI to enable Visa payments within agentic commerce environments.
The partnership will allow developers and merchants to accept Visa payments initiated by AI agents under user-defined controls, including spending limits, merchant restrictions, and approval requirements, according to the company.
Payments will use tokenized Visa credentials alongside real-time authorization and fraud monitoring, according to the statement. The integration is also expected to support developer-focused applications, including Codex-based workflows, and other automated and conversational commerce use cases.
FAQ
What did Visa announce at its annual payments forum on Wednesday?
Visa announced expanded stablecoin settlement pilots across various regions, blockchains, and currencies, along with new tokenization and AI-driven commerce features including Agent Score, Agentic Directory, and Large Transaction Model. The company also announced a partnership with OpenAI to enable Visa payments within agentic commerce environments.
What is Visa's annualized stablecoin settlement run rate as of March 2026?
Visa stated that its annualized stablecoin settlement run rate reached $7 billion as of March 2026. The company has moved billions of dollars in stablecoins through VisaNet, with issuing banks already settling seven days a week onchain with Visa.
How does Visa's partnership with OpenAI work for AI agent payments?
Visa's partnership with OpenAI allows developers and merchants to accept Visa payments initiated by AI agents under user-defined controls, including spending limits, merchant restrictions, and approval requirements. Payments use tokenized Visa credentials alongside real-time authorization and fraud monitoring.
