Visa Welcomes Partners into Agentic Ready Program to Unlock Agentic Commerce

04/30/2026


Visa today welcomes ANZ NZ, ASB Bank, Bank of New Zealand, Kiwibank into its Visa Agentic Ready program, marking an important step in preparing the New Zealand ecosystem for the next phase of agentic commerce.

The Agentic Ready Program is powered by Visa’s trust layer, bringing together tokens, identity, risk and controls to examine how trusted agent-initiated payments could be enabled. These capabilities are designed to operate consistently across merchants, platforms and channels, so consumers remain in control as decision‑making becomes increasingly automated and distributed.

“New Zealand continues to punch above its weight when it comes to innovation. Kicking off this program with local banks allows us to make sure agentic commerce is safe and secure for New Zealanders as more examples of agent-initiated payments become a reality,” said David Peacock, Country Manager for Visa New Zealand and Pacific Islands.

The Agentic Ready Program supports this shift by enabling banks to test and validate agent‑initiated payments in controlled, production‑grade environments, using the same trusted credentials, controls and protections that underpin the Visa network today.


Unlocking the Next Phase of Agentic Commerce

Early agentic experiences have focused on transactions within contained, single-seller environments. Yet the next phase will be determined by experiences across multiple sellers and platforms, reflecting how consumers shop and buy already today.

This shift moves payments from a single moment at checkout into a broader automated process, increasing the need for trust, security and consumer control across the ecosystem.


Preparing the Ecosystem for Agentic Commerce at Scale

Enabling agentic commerce at scale requires more than technological innovation. Cross‑seller experiences depend on network‑level capabilities that ensure agent‑initiated payments are clearly linked to a real person, governed by consent and protected by consistent controls across different environments.

First rolled out in Europe, this work supports Visa’s broader vision for intelligent, programmable commerce, where trusted credentials and network capabilities enable payments to respond securely and flexibly to consumer intent, context and controls. As more of the shopping journey becomes automated, this helps ensure agents can act on a consumer’s behalf while keeping people firmly in control.


Partner Quotes

  • Anna Livesey, GM Retail Products, ANZ NZ: “Customers will benefit from the continued growth of AI, whether shopping as the card holder or as the business selling goods or providing a service. The retail and payments system is evolving fast – from cards, to online, and now to AI shopping on your behalf. Customers are exploring how they can use AI to buy, and businesses want to be ready to serve them. That is why ANZ is part of this work, to help customers on both sides of the transaction participate safely and confidently as commerce changes.”
  • Carl Garrett, GM Enterprise Payments, ASB Bank: “Agentic commerce is an exciting evolution in payments innovation. Taking the hassle out of the entire journey of searching for what you want to buy, choosing, and then purchasing in one secure and seamless flow – transforming the payments experience for consumers.”
  • Karna Luke, Executive, Customer, Products & Services, BNZ: " BNZ is constantly updating its systems to enable new and convenient options for customers to pay and be paid. This Visa regional AI readiness testing demonstrates BNZ is well down the path to enabling emerging payments. We are pleased to work with Visa to ensure that any future developments provide the expected levels of low friction, trust and security for our customers."
  • Simon Pond, Head of Everyday Banking Products, Kiwibank: “We see this as a great opportunity to learn and to support Kiwi as they navigate the evolving agentic commerce ecosystem while being able to maintain clarity, control and trust.”

 

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.