An AI agent can now spend your money. Visa still made it ask permission first.

On June 10, Visa plugged its payment network into ChatGPT. Link your card and an agent can shop and complete the purchase at almost any merchant that takes Visa. Visa’s earlier versions were limited to one retailer or a short list of enrolled partners. This one reaches the whole network.

That’s the headline that makes the news. However, the part worth diving into is what Visa built around it: spending limits and approved merchant lists. A step where the agent sends you the purchase and waits for your approval before the money moves.

Visa gave agents the ability to transact on their own, then decided most of those transactions should still pause for a human. Their own words, they expect early purchases to “keep humans in the loop.”

I work with distributors looking at agents for reordering, customer service, and purchasing with full autonomy. The 𝘚𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 model. It might have worked in the ‘90-‘00’s for Ron Popeil in his infomercial but not for our industry.

Visa had every reason to ship full autonomy and every resource to do it safely. They still put a human in the loop.

If you’ve put an AI agent in your process this year, did you decide a human still had to sign off?