Visa has unveiled its Agentic Ready programme in Singapore, collaborating with 13 banks and fintech partners to enhance the payments ecosystem in the era of agentic commerce. This initiative aims to support issuer readiness by providing a structured path for testing and validating agent-initiated transactions within a controlled environment.
The programme, powered by Visa’s trust layer—which includes tokens, identity, risk, and controls—will initially focus on issuer readiness. Participating partners include Bank of China Singapore, CIMB Singapore, DBS Bank, DCS, GXS Bank, HSBC Singapore, Maybank Singapore, OCBC, Standard Chartered, StraitsX, Trust Bank, UQPay, and UOB. Additional partners are expected to join as the programme expands.
Adeline Kim, Visa’s Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, highlighted Singapore’s role as an innovation hub, stating, “Singapore is an innovation hub where ideas move quickly from concept to real-world impact, making it the ideal market to progress agentic commerce.” A Visa-commissioned study revealed that 77% of Singapore residents already use generative AI tools, with eight in 10 relying on AI assistance for online shopping.
The Agentic Ready programme builds on Visa Intelligent Commerce, aiming to enable trusted AI-driven commerce experiences at scale. Visa is also working with merchants and ecosystem partners to identify consumer-relevant use cases. As the programme progresses, Visa plans to ensure trust and control are embedded across the payments ecosystem to facilitate secure and transparent commerce experiences.
This initiative marks a significant step in advancing digital payments, with Visa and its partners poised to explore the potential of agent-initiated transactions in a secure and scalable manner.
