Visa Eyes Growth Through World Cup and Agentic AI After Strong Earnings

Visa and Artemis examined the rise of machine-native payments as artificial-intelligence agents evolve from advisory tools into entities capable of placing orders and purchasing services autonomously. Protocols including x402 and MPP are emerging to handle the high-frequency, low-value transactions generated by those agents, challenging banks and card networks to rethink payment infrastructure, identity controls, risk management and regulatory compliance.

The research found that AI-agent activity across x402 and MPP generated more than 110 million transactions during the 12 months covered by the report. The volume underscores the rapid expansion of micropayments as autonomous software becomes an active participant in commerce. Visa said established payment providers risk disintermediation unless they develop systems that can process agent-led transactions instantly and cheaply while preserving verification, consumer safeguards and compliance oversight.

Visa, one of the world’s largest payment networks, earns fees as card spending, cross-border activity and processed transactions rise. Its growth strategy now extends beyond consumer credit and debit payments into Visa Direct, which supports real-time payouts, remittances and other money-movement use cases. The company is also pairing artificial intelligence with tokenized credentials to support emerging forms of digital commerce, a push aimed at preserving its role as wallets, instant-payment rails and AI agents reshape how consumers and businesses transact.

Visa said on July 28, 2026 that net revenue for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30 rose 14% to $11.6 billion, while GAAP net income increased 7% to $5.6 billion. Constant-currency payments volume climbed 10%, and processed transactions rose 10% to 71.7 billion. Visa Direct handled 4 billion transactions, up 21% from a year earlier, underscoring momentum in money movement as card spending remained resilient. Adjusted earnings were $3.32 a share, an 11% increase.

Visa is expanding beyond its role as a credit and debit card transaction network into value-added merchant services, focusing on agentic AI, stablecoins and digital assets. The shift could determine whether Visa can reduce its reliance on card-processing fees as payment methods rapidly evolve, while generating revenue from fraud prevention, data analytics and new settlement tools.

Visa executives recently said the company is advancing agentic commerce, in which AI agents can independently search, shop and make payments. It is also using AI to detect and block payment fraud such as romance scams while developing stablecoin applications. Reports did not provide investment figures, a formal launch date or projected new revenue, and Visa has yet to disclose a specific timetable.

AI agents are evolving from providing recommendations to searching, making decisions and paying on consumers’ behalf. The shift requires the payments industry to address authorization, identity verification, risk controls and consumer control. Building on Visa Intelligent Commerce, Visa Agentic Ready allows issuers to test agentic transactions over existing card networks, moving the concept into controlled, real-world payment flows.

Visa launched the program in Europe on March 17, 2026, with 21 issuers participating, including Barclays, HSBC UK and Revolut. It expanded to Latin America and the Caribbean on April 29, followed by 10 Asia-Pacific markets with more than 50 partners on April 30. Taiwan’s initial group includes nine issuers, among them Cathay United Bank, CTBC Bank and E.SUN Bank. Visa did not disclose an investment amount.