Wirex has signed on to Visa’s Agentic Ready programme to help test whether AI “agents” can safely initiate and complete payments using stablecoins — a potential step toward autonomous, agent-driven finance.
Under the initiative, Wirex will participate as an issuer alongside Visa and other ecosystem partners to trial agent-initiated payments in real-world settings. The programme is designed to develop payment rails and controls that let software agents act on users’ behalf while preserving security, transparent consent, and customer oversight.
Why stablecoins and AI agents?
Wirex argues the growing “agentic economy” — which it says is expanding about 44% annually — needs payment infrastructure that can operate continuously without the limits of traditional banking windows. Stablecoins, with 24/7 settlement capability and programmable features, are a natural fit for automating tasks such as subscription management, marketing budget allocation, and procurement workflows.
What the trials will test
Early tests will examine whether AI-driven agents can execute payments reliably and securely, while maintaining consumer visibility and control over transactions. Use cases called out by Wirex include software-as-a-service subscriptions, marketing spend management and business procurement processes.
Existing ties and broader Visa activity
Wirex is already a principal Visa member, and the company says the collaboration builds on that relationship to explore agent-enabled workflows — from booking travel to managing recurring payments — without requiring approval at every step, but with users retaining consent and oversight.
The move also fits into Visa’s expanding blockchain playbook. Recent projects cited by industry participants include:
- A Canton Network proof-of-concept with Brale testing stablecoin settlement (using Brale’s SBC token) in a permissioned, privacy-enabled environment intended for institutional use.
- Prior settlement pilots using Circle’s USDC on Ethereum.
- Other experiments around stablecoin-funded payments, tokenized asset spending, and crypto rewards.
Industry context
Wirex CEO and co-founder Pavel Matveev framed the effort as introducing “a trusted model for payments” that lets software delegate financial actions while operating through Visa’s global networks and Wirex’s compliance experience.
Visa’s crypto-linked initiatives continue to multiply: examples this month include a Visa card integrating Tether and Fasset that lets users spend tokenized gold and earn rewards in Tether Gold, and an SBI Group Visa card in Japan offering crypto rewards (Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP) via SBI VC Trade.
What to watch
The Agentic Ready trials will be watched closely by payments and crypto stakeholders for how they handle authentication, consent, fraud controls and privacy in agent-driven flows — areas that will determine whether autonomous payment agents can win mainstream trust.
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