Visa has introduced Visa Agentic Ready in Hong Kong, a testing programme designed to help card issuers validate AI-driven, agent-initiated transactions.
The inaugural cohort includes Bank of China (Hong Kong), DBS Hong Kong, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC Hong Kong, Reap, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and ZA Bank.
The initiative provides a production-grade environment for these institutions to explore how AI agents can execute payments on behalf of consumers.
The first phase of the programme concentrates on issuer readiness.
It uses Visa’s existing network infrastructure, incorporating tokens, identity verification, and risk controls to process automated payments without requiring banks to overhaul their core systems.
This rollout is part of Visa Intelligent Commerce, the company’s broader framework for scaling automated payment experiences securely.
“Consumers are increasingly turning to AI agents to help them make everyday decisions and complete transactions, creating new opportunities for issuers and partners across the payments ecosystem,”
said Paulina Leong, General Manager of Visa Hong Kong and Macau.
“As commerce becomes more automated and contextual, we need to be ready for new types of payment journeys,”
said Corey Chu, Head of Lending and Card at ZA Bank.
Visa plans to expand the programme to include more participants across the Hong Kong payments sector as agentic commerce technology matures and adoption grows.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Hong Kong, based on image by thanyakij-12 via Magnific