From AI to Identity: Key Forces Driving Payments in 2026

01/21/2026

 

Visa today outlined the major forces set to shape the future of commerce and money movement across Asia Pacific in 2026. Building on a transformative 2025 — marked by the convergence of AI, Web3, and accelerating digital payments — the region is entering a new era where technology, regulation, and infrastructure will advance at unprecedented speed.

As digital infrastructure advances, regulatory frameworks mature, and access to mobile and computing capabilities widens, Asia Pacific is poised to lead global innovation in how people and businesses engage with money. Visa identifies five trends that will define the region’s payment landscape in the year ahead.

  1. AI‑Driven Commerce Takes a Major Leap Forward

After ushering in the age of eCommerce through secure and seamless digital payments, Visa sees the next evolution taking shape through AI-led agentic commerce, where intelligent agents search, shop, and pay on behalf of consumers. In the United States, generative AI platforms drove a 4,700% surge in online retail traffic in July 20251, and Asia Pacific’s digital-first environment is primed for similar momentum.

Businesses are rapidly entering this next phase. With more than 200 million companies and 70 of the top 80 global trade corridors touching Asia Pacific, the “consumerisation” of B2B payments is accelerating demand for AI agents that can interpret business intent, coordinate workflows, and reduce payment completion times.

Visa is supporting this next wave with enhancements to its Visa Intelligent Commerce suite, including the new Trusted Agent Protocol, a low‑code solution that helps merchants identify verified AI agents and establish trust across transactions. Several agentic commerce pilots will commence in early 2026 as adoption widens across Asia Pacific.

  1. Identity Emerges as the Frontline of Security

The rise of digital and AI‑powered commerce is also reshaping the security landscape. Cybercrime is projected to cost the world US$15.6 trillion by 20292, with malicious bots now accounting for 37% of all internet traffic. Asia continues to experience some of the world’s highest scam losses3, posing risks to individuals and economies.

With AI enabling increasingly sophisticated fraud, identity authentication is becoming a decisive factor in securing digital payments. Organisations across the ecosystem are intensifying focus on trusted, secure methods of verifying users.

Visa is advancing this priority through a multi‑layered approach:

  • Accelerating tokenisation: Tokenisation replaces sensitive card details with cryptographic keys, enabling secure provisioning into mobile wallets and trusted AI agents. Compared with PAN-based transactions, tokenised payments record 34% lower fraud rates.4
  • Harnessing biometrics: Biometrics enable authentication using consumers’ unique physical identifiers such as fingerprints or facial recognition, reducing fraud by as much as 50% compared to OTP-based authentication.5
  • Securing the ecosystem: Visa has invested US$13 billion in technology and infrastructure over the past five years6, enabling the development of new fraud prevention capabilities such as Visa Scam Disruption to safeguard global commerce.
  1. Seamless Checkout Becomes the Regional Standard

As eCommerce and digital payments continue to expand across Asia Pacific, consumers are increasingly seeking faster and more reliable checkout experiences. Visa research shows that six in 10 consumers in the region encountered challenges paying with cards in the past year, often due to forgotten card details or missed one‑time passwords (OTPs) – resulting in poor experiences and lost revenue for merchants.

To support evolving expectations, Visa is expanding Click to Pay across the region. This solution streamlines online checkout by storing tokenised credentials and enabling biometric authentication through Visa Payment Passkey. With broad support from issuers and major technology partners, Click to Pay is setting a new benchmark for digital commerce in Asia Pacific.

  1. Interoperability Defines the Future of Money Movement

Asia Pacific remains a global leader in payment innovation, as digital wallets, QR payments and real-time payment networks are firmly embedded in the region’s commerce landscape. As money becomes more digital and diverse, interoperability is emerging as a critical priority for 2026.

Consumers and businesses expect to move money across platforms, currencies and borders with consistency and confidence. Public and private sector initiatives across the region are advancing this goal as economies become increasingly mobile‑driven and AI‑enabled.

Visa solutions such as Visa Scan to Pay are enabling consumers to pay with digital wallets at their preferred merchants, while issuers and platforms modernise infrastructure by adopting cloud-native and API-first technologies through Visa and Pismo.

  1. Fiat and Digital Currencies Converge at Scale

Interoperability between traditional and digital forms of money is also becoming central to global value exchange. Visa’s stablecoin initiatives — including new pilots with Nium and the expansion of stablecoin-based payouts on Visa Direct — are enabling money to move across fiat and crypto environments with greater ease.

Stablecoins have now surpassed US$250 billion in circulation, supported by rising use cases and merchant acceptance. Visa serves more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programmes across over 40 countries, with settlement volumes reaching a US$3.5 billion annual run rate.

In Asia Pacific, demand is rising as regulatory clarity grows, especially in markets Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. This shift is also underpinned by expanding expertise and advisory services, including Visa’s newly established Global Stablecoins Advisory Practice, which is helping organisations navigate this transition to unlock the potential of digital currencies within their payment flows.

2026 is set to mark the beginning of a new era for payments, as Asia Pacific continues to advance through stronger security foundations, greater B2B enablement, and deeper digitalisation across the payments ecosystem.

 

To learn more about global payments trends, read Visa’s full global predictions on payments in 2026.

 

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1 Generative AI-Powered Shopping Rises with Traffic to U.S. Retail Sites

2 Global cybercrime estimated cost 2025, Statista

3 New GASA Report Estimates $688 Billion in Scam Losses Across Asia Amid Rising Cyberthreat Worldwide

4 Visa Risk Datamart, Global, FY24 Q1–Q4 Token Fraud Rate vs PAN Fraud Rate by PV. Merchant’s individual rates may vary. Note: India domestic and all Russia transactions are excluded.

5 Analysis based VisaNet data globally, from July-December 2023, comparing biometric authentication to step-up through OTP sent over text message.

6 Visa Annual Report 2025

 

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, sellers, 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.