Card spending stays strong as Visa and Mastercard prep for AI shopping

People kept spending on their cards last quarter, and the big payment networks are now chasing a new kind of purchase. It may start with an unpaid invoice, a stablecoin balance or an instruction given to an AI agent. Earnings calls from Visa, Mastercard and American Express showed strong spending and several new services at very different stages of readiness.

Spending held up

Visa said US credit volume grew 11% and debit grew 9%. Its CFO, Chris Suh, said the company did not see signs of the lower-spend consumer weakening in its volumes. Mastercard reported US credit up 10% and debit up 1%, a figure that includes the effect of the Capital One debit migration. Its affluent portfolios grew twice as fast as overall credit.

American Express said US consumer spending grew 9.4%, with airline and restaurant spending strong. Its delinquency rate has stayed at 1.2% or 1.3% for 15 straight quarters. Amex serves mostly premium customers, so that may not describe the whole credit market.

AI shopping agents are early

Visa said more than 60% of its online transactions already use tokens, which stand in for a real card number. The next step is linking those tokens to an approved AI agent and the buyer's instructions. Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said every agent needs an identifiable user behind it, with clear dispute rules.

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach pointed to a gap on the seller side. Even if everyone uses Agent Pay, he said, that does not mean every merchant can be found. Product catalogs must be open to AI shopping tools, and payment processors must support the connections. Both companies said agent-driven purchases are still small.

Stablecoins and invoices

Visa said its stablecoin settlement is running above $25 billion a year. Its Visa Direct stablecoin prefunding service is in commercial production, with Inyo Global as the first live partner. It starts with USDC, and more coins are planned.

Mastercard closed its BVNK acquisition in August and described a first joint product. Businesses can hold and send currencies and stablecoins, and pay stablecoin balances into local bank accounts. Nuvei and Marqeta are expected among the first customers. Whether customers will actually adopt it is not yet known.

On invoices, Ramp's bill payment agent is generally available using Visa. BILL is piloting one, and Airwallex is testing. Billtrust's supplier portal will identify the agent and accept payment. Mastercard said Tungsten Automation is adding virtual cards to its accounts payable tools.

What business owners should check

• Whether your product catalog can be read by AI shopping tools.
• Whether your payment processor supports agent purchases and tokens.
• Whether your systems can recognize an agent paying an invoice.