Visa Launches ‘Agentic Ready’ Program to Accelerate Issuer Readiness and Advance Hong Kong’s Agentic Commerce Ecosystem

04/30/2026

 

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, today announced the launch of Visa Agentic Ready in Hong Kong, a global program designed to support the payments ecosystem in the era of agentic commerce. This launch marks a pivotal step in transforming Hong Kong’s payments and commerce ecosystem. Starting with an inaugural cohort of issuers, the program will expand to welcome broader industry participation over time.

In its first phase, Visa Agentic Ready focuses on issuer readiness, providing a structured pathway for issuers to test, validate and understand agent-initiated transactions in a controlled, production-grade environment.

Empowering AI-driven transactions with secure payment infrastructure

Empowered by Visa’s foundational network capabilities, bringing together tokens, identity, risk and controls to examine how trusted agent-initiated payments could be enabled across use cases. This builds on Visa Intelligent Commerce, Visa’s strategic framework for enabling trusted, AI-driven commerce experiences at scale.

“Consumers are increasingly turning to AI agents to help them make everyday decisions and complete transactions, creating new opportunities for issuers and partners across the payments ecosystem,” said Paulina Leong, General Manager of Visa Hong Kong and Macau. “Visa Agentic Ready helps bring the ecosystem together by ensuring interoperability across issuers, technology providers and platforms, so agent-initiated commerce can scale with speed and confidence. By providing a structured pathway and standards-based environment built on Visa’s existing network, security and controls, we make it easier for our partners to transition without rearchitecting their infrastructure, and to deliver seamless, trusted experiences as consumer behaviour continues to evolve.”

From Readiness to Ecosystem Momentum

Bringing agentic commerce to life at scale requires coordination across the payments ecosystem, and in Hong Kong, Visa is bringing together an inaugural cohort – Bank of China (Hong Kong), DBS Hong Kong, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC Hong Kong, Reap, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and ZA Bank – through Visa Agentic Ready. Together, they represent an important step in a broader market effort, as Visa welcomes wider participation across the payments and commerce ecosystem over time.

Dick Ho, General Manager of BOC Credit Card (International) Limited, said, "As payment technologies continue to evolve at a rapid pace, card issuers must adopt a prudent and robust approach to ensure readiness, enhancing convenience while maintaining payment security. 'Visa Agentic Ready' provides card issuers with the infrastructure to securely test transactions in a controlled environment. This initiative not only supports the exploration of new payment experiences but also lays a solid foundation for building a trusted, consumer-centric payment ecosystem in the future."

Emily Ip, Head of Cards and Unsecured Lending, Consumer Banking Group and Wealth Management, DBS Hong Kong, said, “DBS Hong Kong has always been committed to providing secure and convenient payment services through innovative digital solutions. Agentic commerce is moving quickly from concept to reality, and programs like Visa Agentic Ready come at the right time. It gives us a structured way to explore new payment scenarios and understand their practical implications. We believe the new experiences can scale more responsibly as customer journeys continue to evolve.”

Amy Kam, Managing Director, Head of Unsecured Lending and Payments, Hang Seng Bank, said, “Customer trust remains fundamental as AI becomes more embedded in commerce. Visa Agentic Ready supports issuers in exploring agent-initiated payments in a structured and controlled environment, with the right safeguards in place. That is important to ensure new payment models are introduced responsibly and in ways customers can trust.”

Sunny Chow, Head of Cards and Unsecured Lending, HSBC Hong Kong, said, “As commerce becomes more AI-enabled, payment experiences must be both seamless and trusted. Visa Agentic Ready offers a practical opportunity to explore agent-initiated payments through testing and validation in a secure, structured environment—including how customers authorize and complete credit card payments with appropriate safeguards. That matters because new commerce experiences will only scale when the right controls are in place and customers have confidence in how their payments are made.”

Daren Guo, Co-Founder, Reap, said, “With the rise of agentic commerce taking us one step closer to a truly AI-native financial system, Reap is proud to partner with Visa in the Agentic Ready program. As one of the world's first stablecoin card enablers founded in Hong Kong, we are delighted to contribute our perspectives as a global fintech to this innovative framework, to test and align on emerging transaction flows early. Together, we expect to drive more connected and trusted commerce experiences over time for fintechs, digital platforms and cross-border businesses.”

Anshul Sabherwal, Head of Products (Credit Cards and Personal Loans) and Payment, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, said, “In today’s fast paced landscape, the payment ecosystem must evolve. Through Visa Agentic Ready Program, Standard Chartered credit card users can explore how AI agents enhance their credit card journey by delivering greater convenience and personalisation. The program will help shape the next phase of smarter and more intuitive credit card payment experiences.”

Corey Chu, Head of Lending and Card, ZA Bank, said, “As commerce becomes more automated and contextual, we need to be ready for new types of payment journeys. Visa Agentic Ready gives us an opportunity to explore these evolving scenarios in a practical and structured way. For a digital bank, that kind of understanding is especially relevant as we prepare for the next phase of digital payments and customer experiences.”

The program is live and available in Hong Kong and across Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam in Asia Pacific. Those interested in participating in the Visa Agentic Ready can contact their Visa account executive for more information.

 

 

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, sellers, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.