Financial services company Visa announced Wednesday it has integrated its payment system with ChatGPT, enabling the artificial intelligence platform to shop for items and process payments for users automatically.
This development allows AI assistants to not just suggest products but actually complete purchases for customers at any business that accepts Visa cards. Earlier technological efforts by the payment network were restricted to individual retailers or small groups of participating stores.
This marks another venture into online shopping for OpenAI. The company previously launched Instant Checkout last year, which enabled ChatGPT to search the web for specific products like a virtual shopping assistant. However, that service experienced frequent mistakes and failed to gain traction among retailers because of OpenAI’s merchant fees. The company discontinued Instant Checkout in March.
The new Visa partnership differs from OpenAI’s earlier shopping initiatives, as it will enable customers to connect their Visa payment cards directly to ChatGPT for purchases and streamline transaction processing for businesses.
OpenAI will supply the technology enabling AI assistants to communicate, make choices and complete purchases through ChatGPT. Visa, which operates the largest payment network globally outside China, will handle payment processing and fraud detection required for widespread implementation.
“As AI agents become active participants in the economy, Visa’s focus is to ensure transactions are trusted, secure and seamless,” said Jack Forestell, chief product and strategy officer at Visa.
During a company presentation Wednesday in San Francisco, Forestell demonstrated how a user might ask ChatGPT to find wireless headphones priced below $150. The AI would locate suitable options meeting those criteria and purchase them for the customer.
Neither Visa nor OpenAI revealed the financial details of their partnership or specified what fees businesses or consumers would face.
The previous Instant Checkout service required merchants to pay 4% of each transaction’s total, which businesses considered excessive.
Enabling AI systems to make purchases for consumers creates potential issues for financial institutions and retailers. Users might exceed their budgets, the AI could select incorrect items, or customers might dispute transactions they claim they never authorized. Banks have expressed concerns about possible fraud complaints when AI agents use customers’ credit or debit cards.
Visa states the new feature will include protective measures such as spending caps, mandatory approval processes and pre-approved merchant lists to safeguard consumers and reduce fraudulent activity.
Retailers have deployed AI-powered shopping assistants that can suggest products and customize the shopping experience, with Amazon’s Alexa being among the earliest examples. However, Alexa was limited to Amazon purchases only, and OpenAI’s Instant Checkout worked with just selected retailers.
Mastercard, Visa’s primary rival, has also been developing AI shopping capabilities for its payment network on a more limited basis.
Mastercard revealed that AI agents will be able to purchase services for businesses. For instance, a coffee shop planning to launch an advertising campaign could authorize an AI agent to buy services from web and advertising companies to develop the promotional effort.
