Visa expands agentic commerce testing with NZ banks
Thu, 30th Apr 2026 (Yesterday)
Visa has expanded its Agentic Ready programme in New Zealand, bringing several of the country's largest banks into efforts to test and validate agent-initiated payments.
The initiative includes ANZ NZ, ASB Bank, Bank of New Zealand and Kiwibank, as Visa works with financial institutions to explore how artificial intelligence-driven commerce could operate across multiple merchants and platforms.
Local rollout
The programme centres on Visa's existing network infrastructure, which combines tokenisation, identity verification, risk management and transaction controls.
"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, Visa New Zealand And Pacific Islands.
Participating banks are using the programme to simulate agent-initiated transactions in controlled environments. These tests use the same credentials and protections that underpin Visa's payment network.
Payment shift
The programme reflects a broader shift in how digital transactions are expected to evolve. Early forms of agentic commerce have focused on closed systems, where purchases occur within a single platform or retailer.
The next phase involves transactions across multiple sellers and services. This expands the role of AI agents from assisting at checkout to managing entire purchasing processes.
This shift introduces new requirements for oversight. Payment systems must maintain a clear link between transactions and the individual authorising them. Consent, authentication and consistent controls across platforms are central to this model.
Bank response
Banks involved in the programme are assessing how these systems could be integrated into existing payment services while maintaining customer protections.
"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," said Anna Livesey, GM Retail Products, ANZ NZ.
"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," said Carl Garrett, GM Enterprise Payments, ASB Bank.
" 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," said Karna Luke, Executive, Customer, Products & Services, BNZ.
"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," said Simon Pond, Head of Everyday Banking Products, Kiwibank.