Consumer Trust Lags as AI Agents Take On Payments

Agentic payments allow artificial intelligence to move beyond recommendations and execute purchases under limits set in advance, choosing products, merchants and timing without approval at every step. The model promises faster checkout, round-the-clock bill payment and lower processing costs, but it also shifts control over sensitive data and financial decisions to software. Unclear liability, new fraud techniques and doubts over dispute handling make consumer confidence the central constraint on adoption.

Visa said on Sept. 9, 2026, that a Harris Poll survey of 2,065 U.S. adults found 72% had used an AI assistant but only 23% trusted generative AI to handle a payment. Some 61% trusted Visa to manage an agentic transaction. A Sept. 17 analysis by payabl. cited dentsu research showing nearly two-thirds were uncomfortable with autonomous AI purchases, even as Juniper Research forecasts global agentic-commerce spending will reach $1.5 trillion in 2030.