Visa adds fraud checks and AI helpers for business card payments

Visa has announced new tools for business card payments. One helps companies find suppliers that will take cards. Another adds fraud checks to virtual card payments. A third, still in a pilot, lets an AI helper pay approved invoices without anyone sharing a login.

What changed

The first tool is SESA 2.0, short for Supplier Enablement Spend Analytics. It uses artificial intelligence to study how a business spends and to spot suppliers likely to accept commercial cards. Visa says this could unlock up to $600 billion in new spending.

The second is a package called Commercial Fraud Solutions. It covers virtual card payments, which are card numbers made for business payments instead of a physical card. Visa says it adds three things:

• Checks that a supplier is who it claims to be
• User sign-in through 3-D Secure, an extra step that confirms the payer's identity
• Controls such as spend limits and allowed merchant categories

The AI pilot

Visa is also running a live pilot with BILL and Billtrust. AI agents, meaning software that acts on a company's behalf, pay approved invoices through supplier portals. Today, staff often share one login for those portals, which is a weak spot.

In the pilot, the agent uses tokenized payment credentials. That means a stand-in code replaces the real card number. Visa says the setup keeps payments visible and accountable. The pilot uses Visa's Intelligent Commerce and Trusted Agent Protocol.

Why it matters

Visa projects business virtual card payments will reach $14.6 trillion by 2029. As that grows, so does the chance of fraud. Darren Parslow, global head of Visa Commercial Solutions, said businesses are moving quickly to automate the work around payments, from finding suppliers to approving invoices and making payments.

For a small business that pays suppliers by card, the fraud checks and spending limits could mean fewer scares. The $600 billion and $14.6 trillion figures are Visa's own estimates and projections, not guarantees for any one company.

What is not known yet

The material does not say when these tools will be available, what they will cost, or which businesses can use them. It also does not say how they will fit with current payment setups. The AI payment feature is still a pilot, so trust and reliability remain open questions.

What to do

• Ask your payment provider or bank when these tools arrive and what they cost
• Ask whether staff will need training
• Check how the tools work with your current payment methods
• Treat AI-run payments as something to watch, not to rush into