Blab AI
Visa Unveils AI, Token, and Stablecoin Enhancements in CEMEA, Driving Tokenization and Settlement Growth
Visa unveiled a suite of AI‑driven, token, and stable‑coin capabilities on June 30 2026, just before its Payments Forum in Paris on July 1. The company said the updates aim to give merchants, banks, and consumers across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) the tools to participate in the next generation of commerce.
Tokenised transactions in CEMEA jumped from 26 % of all payments in 2023 to 70 % in 2026, while settlement volumes for stable‑coins have swelled almost 60‑fold since the launch of the service a year earlier.
Visa’s new platform, Visa Intelligent Commerce, is designed to grant AI agents the trust and controls needed to discover, initiate and complete transactions on behalf of consumers and businesses. To support agent‑initiated commerce, Visa introduced the Agent Score—a New Generation tool that lets merchants evaluate whether their websites are ready for AI agents. The Agentic Directory, another launch, lists verified agents and merchants that can safely transact together.
Tokenisation has become a cornerstone of e‑commerce growth in CEMEA. Visa said it is enriching token data to include details about the transaction type, the channel where the token is used and the payer. In addition, the company is adding a token assurance signal that evaluates a token’s lifecycle—its provisioning and behavioural history—to generate a trust signal for each transaction. These measures are intended to strengthen tokens as a foundation for secure, automated, and embedded commerce.
Visa is expanding its stable‑coin settlement pilots across multiple blockchains and currencies. Building on pilots that began in early 2025, the company moved billions of dollars in stable‑coins across VisaNet, reaching an annualised run rate of approximately $7 billion as of March 2026. Visa is working to extend seven‑day, on‑chain settlement to acquirers after issuing banks began settling seven days a week on‑chain.
Since launching stable‑coin settlement in CEMEA a year ago, settlement volumes have risen nearly 60 times. Visa also announced the launch of Tokenised Deposits, a technology layer that would allow banks to convert traditional deposits into programmable, always‑on digital money while keeping funds on the balance sheet.
To help banks meet rising customer expectations, Visa introduced Visa Trip Intelligence in CEMEA. The service combines VisaNet intelligence with third‑party data to infer travel intent, generate personalised itineraries and provide activation‑ready insights. The goal is to enable banks to deliver pre‑travel support, reduce payment friction and offer relevant benefits while customers travel.
Visa’s announcements highlight a coordinated effort to modernise both the front‑end and back‑end of payments in CEMEA. Tokenisation has already captured a majority of payments in the region, and stable‑coin settlement is moving from pilot to near‑production levels with a $7 billion annualised run rate. The company’s AI initiatives—agentic commerce tools and travel intelligence—are positioned to accelerate the adoption of automated, context‑aware payment experiences. Visa has not yet disclosed specific timelines for broader roll‑outs beyond CEMEA, but the company indicated that the infrastructure and intelligence it is building will enable clients to scale new experiences across the region.
The next steps for Visa will likely involve extending stable‑coin settlement to additional blockchains, expanding the number of stable‑coin‑linked card programmes, and further refining token assurance signals as AI agents become more prevalent in commerce.
Tokenised transactions in CEMEA jumped from 26 % of all payments in 2023 to 70 % in 2026, while settlement volumes for stable‑coins have swelled almost 60‑fold since the launch of the service a year earlier.
Visa’s new platform, Visa Intelligent Commerce, is designed to grant AI agents the trust and controls needed to discover, initiate and complete transactions on behalf of consumers and businesses. To support agent‑initiated commerce, Visa introduced the Agent Score—a New Generation tool that lets merchants evaluate whether their websites are ready for AI agents. The Agentic Directory, another launch, lists verified agents and merchants that can safely transact together.
Tokenisation has become a cornerstone of e‑commerce growth in CEMEA. Visa said it is enriching token data to include details about the transaction type, the channel where the token is used and the payer. In addition, the company is adding a token assurance signal that evaluates a token’s lifecycle—its provisioning and behavioural history—to generate a trust signal for each transaction. These measures are intended to strengthen tokens as a foundation for secure, automated, and embedded commerce.
Visa is expanding its stable‑coin settlement pilots across multiple blockchains and currencies. Building on pilots that began in early 2025, the company moved billions of dollars in stable‑coins across VisaNet, reaching an annualised run rate of approximately $7 billion as of March 2026. Visa is working to extend seven‑day, on‑chain settlement to acquirers after issuing banks began settling seven days a week on‑chain.
Since launching stable‑coin settlement in CEMEA a year ago, settlement volumes have risen nearly 60 times. Visa also announced the launch of Tokenised Deposits, a technology layer that would allow banks to convert traditional deposits into programmable, always‑on digital money while keeping funds on the balance sheet.
To help banks meet rising customer expectations, Visa introduced Visa Trip Intelligence in CEMEA. The service combines VisaNet intelligence with third‑party data to infer travel intent, generate personalised itineraries and provide activation‑ready insights. The goal is to enable banks to deliver pre‑travel support, reduce payment friction and offer relevant benefits while customers travel.
Visa’s announcements highlight a coordinated effort to modernise both the front‑end and back‑end of payments in CEMEA. Tokenisation has already captured a majority of payments in the region, and stable‑coin settlement is moving from pilot to near‑production levels with a $7 billion annualised run rate. The company’s AI initiatives—agentic commerce tools and travel intelligence—are positioned to accelerate the adoption of automated, context‑aware payment experiences. Visa has not yet disclosed specific timelines for broader roll‑outs beyond CEMEA, but the company indicated that the infrastructure and intelligence it is building will enable clients to scale new experiences across the region.
The next steps for Visa will likely involve extending stable‑coin settlement to additional blockchains, expanding the number of stable‑coin‑linked card programmes, and further refining token assurance signals as AI agents become more prevalent in commerce.
