23% Of Us Trust AI Agents To Spend Our Money. Visa Has A Plan
New Visa research finds consumers are fine letting AI shop for them, but deeply unwilling to let it pay. I chat with Group President Oliver Jenkyn on why trust, not technology, is the gating factor. VCG via Getty Images Almost three quarters of us have used AI agents like OpenClaw or Hermes, or perhaps Meta‘s new Muse. But only 23% trust agents with their money. That’s a problem for Visa, which is looking to expand its payments empire. As Visas chief product and strategy executive writes, “Your AI just bought you a couch. Are you okay with that?” AI agents are increasingly common. They can check Slack or summarize our email, They can help us manage our calendars, they can research information. They could also be used to track prices, re-order consumables, or even book travel, but few of us have trusted them with our wallets. At least, so far. Citing a survey of 2,065 US consumers, Visa says that when its name is attached to the agentic AI purchase, acceptance almost triples to 61%. That is, of course, not a statement about whether the technology works or not, or which AI agent you should use. Instead, its a statement about who consumers want standing








