AI agents are entering the checkout flow. Visa is getting the payment layer ready

Tokenized transactions in Visa’s Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region jumped from 26% in 2023 to 70% in 2026, while regional stablecoin settlement volumes rose nearly 60x in one year. Globally, Visa is moving stablecoins across VisaNet at an annualized rate of USD 7 bn, with more than 160 card programs live or in development. Ahead of the Visa Payments Forum in Paris, the company laid out the infrastructure work behind those numbers — and the next phase of digital commerce now coming into view.

Start with identity. As AI agents begin to shop, compare, and check out on consumers’ behalf, Visa's new Agentic Directory verifies which agents and merchants are legitimate participants in agentic commerce. Agent Score gives merchants a read on whether their websites are ready for automated buyers before those buyers show up at checkout.

Next: tokens with more context. Tokens already mask card numbers. Visa is now adding richer transaction context and a token assurance signal based on each token's provisioning and behavioral history, giving banks and merchants more context to assess automated, embedded, and newly initiated transactions.

At the back end, money movement is getting a longer workday. Visa is extending seven-day onchain settlement beyond issuing banks to acquirers, and building Tokenized Deposits, a technology layer that allows banks to turn traditional deposits into programmable digital money while keeping funds on the balance sheet.

For banks and merchants in Egypt and the wider CEMEA region, the takeaway is readiness. AI agents are entering the purchase journey. Tokens are carrying more trust data. Stablecoins are moving value more frequently. The payment layer beneath digital commerce is being rebuilt to enable faster transactions that run more automatically and securely than ever.