Visa integrates payments into ChatGPT to let AI agents shop for users

Visa is embedding its payment network into ChatGPT, a move that would let AI agents shop and complete purchases on users’ behalf. The partnership, announced Wednesday, is designed to make it possible for ChatGPT to not only recommend products but also finish transactions at merchants that accept Visa, according to the Associated Press and Visa’s own announcement.

The companies say the system will allow users to link their Visa cards to ChatGPT and then ask the chatbot to handle shopping tasks within set limits. For example, a user could tell ChatGPT to find wireless headphones under a certain price, and the agent could identify an option and buy it automatically, as described by Visa chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell at a company event in San Francisco.

Visa said OpenAI will provide the technology that lets agents interact, make decisions and initiate purchases through ChatGPT, while Visa will handle payment authorization and fraud monitoring. The company said the goal is to make agent-driven shopping more secure and scalable than earlier attempts, which were limited to a single retailer or a small group of enrolled merchants.

The companies did not disclose financial terms or explain what fees merchants or consumers might pay. Visa said the feature would include guardrails such as spending limits, required approval steps and approved merchants to help reduce fraud and keep users in control even when an AI agent is carrying out the purchase.

The collaboration highlights how quickly AI assistants are moving from product recommendations toward full transaction tools. Visa said the effort is part of a broader push to build what it calls agentic commerce, a system in which AI agents can take part in shopping and payments across more merchants and services.

For merchants, the change could eventually create a new checkout channel driven by AI rather than direct browsing. For consumers, it could reduce the steps between searching for a product and buying it, while also raising questions about oversight, authentication and how much authority users will be comfortable giving to an automated assistant.