Thredd has joined Visa’s Agentic Ready programme, allowing European issuers using its processing platform to prepare for AI agent-initiated payments without replacing existing payments infrastructure.
Agentic commerce introduces a new layer to the payments journey, with AI agents able to search, recommend and complete transactions within permissions set by the user. While existing payment controls such as authentication, issuer approval and fraud monitoring remain in place, the process of establishing trust changes when an agent is involved.
Consumer payments platform Zilch will be among the first issuers on Thredd’s platform to enable agent-initiated payments for cardholders. The move places Thredd within Visa’s wider effort to develop the infrastructure required for AI-driven commerce, where software agents increasingly participate in purchasing decisions on behalf of consumers.
Under the model, a consumer could ask an AI agent to find a product within a defined budget, approve the recommendation and complete the purchase using biometric authentication through a Visa Payment Passkey. The agent would then complete the transaction with the merchant using the appropriate payment credentials.
Thredd said its approach builds on existing issuer infrastructure, using Visa Token Service tokenisation so agents handle payment tokens rather than underlying card credentials. The platform will also support device binding and passkey-based authentication, alongside additional capabilities designed specifically for agent-led transactions.
These include agent-specific tokens with tailored permissions and controls, as well as fraud monitoring rules designed to identify behaviours associated with AI agents, such as execution drift and unusual transaction patterns.
Thredd provides debit, credit, digital wallet and ledger capabilities through a single API, supporting more than 100 FinTech firms, digital banks and embedded finance providers across more than 50 countries.
Zilch, founded in 2019, operates an intelligent payments platform spanning debit, credit, instalments, earned wage access, credit building, deals and rewards. The company said it has more than 6 million customers.
Zilch CEO Philip Belamant commented, “Agentic commerce represents a fundamental shift in how payments will work, and getting the infrastructure right from the outset is critical.”
Thredd CEO Jim McCarthy said issuers need infrastructure that allows them to adopt AI-driven payments while maintaining security, customer control and existing payment processes.
The partnership reflects a broader shift across payments as providers begin developing systems for AI agents to participate in commerce. While adoption remains at an early stage, processors, networks and issuers are building the infrastructure and controls needed to support transactions where software agents act on behalf of consumers.
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