Visa (NYSE: V) has rolled out its Agentic Ready initiative to issuers in Canada and Malaysia, marking another step in its global push to ready the payments industry for a future shaped by artificial intelligence. This program equips banks and partners with a secure testing ground to handle transactions started by AI agents—systems that go beyond simple recommendations to independently search products, make choices, and complete purchases on a consumer’s behalf.
The shift toward agentic commerce represents a major evolution in how people interact with money.
Instead of users handling every step manually, trusted AI could one day manage routine tasks like booking travel or restocking household items, all while respecting strict rules around consent, privacy, and security.
Visa designed Agentic Ready to bridge today’s systems with this new reality, giving financial institutions hands-on experience before such capabilities become widespread.
In Canada, the program launched on May 5 with strong local support. All five major banks—BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD—have signed on as initial participants, with more expected to join soon.
Tailored to Canadian priorities, it allows issuers to simulate real-world scenarios using live cards and actual merchants.
Participants can verify every stage of a transaction: card enrollment, secure tokenization, strong authentication, and final authorization.
The setup emphasizes maintaining full consumer control and transparency, leveraging Visa’s established network strengths in risk management and identity verification.
Visa Canada’s president and country manager, Michiel Wielhouwer, noted that the effort gives local institutions an early advantage in building confidence for responsible, scalable AI-driven payments that align with national expectations.
Malaysia joined through Visa’s broader Asia-Pacific expansion announced just days earlier on April 30.
Three local institutions—Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, CIMB Bank, and Maybank—stepped forward as early adopters.
The country is one of ten markets across the region now live with the program, alongside Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Over fifty partners region-wide are already engaged, creating a robust network for testing agent-initiated flows in production-like conditions.
Across both nations, the initiative sits within Visa’s larger Intelligent Commerce framework, which already supports live AI transactions in the United States and earlier rollouts in Europe and Latin America.
Participants gain practical insights into operational readiness, spot potential gaps early, and collaborate directly with Visa and merchants.
By prioritizing tokenization and layered controls, the program ensures every agent action remains traceable to a real person, preserving the trust that underpins everyday payments.
As AI agents move from concept to everyday tool, programs like Agentic Ready help the industry move proactively.
Banks in Canada and Malaysia can now experiment safely, refine processes, and prepare customers for seamless yet protected experiences.
The result could be faster, more intuitive commerce that still puts people firmly in the driver’s seat. This coordinated expansion underscores Visa’s commitment to guiding the payments ecosystem through technological change without compromising security or consumer safeguards.