Global card payment infrastructure is confronting a significant challenge from the rise of AI agents, according to a joint report issued by Visa (V.US) and Artemis on Wednesday.
The core issue is that traditional card-based systems were designed for low-frequency human transactions and are ill-equipped to handle the high-frequency, micro-payments requiring near-zero fees and instant settlement that AI agents demand, thereby hindering commercial viability.
As AI agents are projected to surpass a critical capability threshold by mid-2025, their autonomous behavior—discovering unfamiliar APIs, evaluating prices, and initiating payments—is making the construction of new infrastructure an urgent priority.
A prediction from Australian cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx earlier this week suggests that if adoption reaches 33%, AI-native payment methods based on stablecoins could drive the market to generate $262 billion in stablecoin transaction volume by 2033.
This projected growth is underpinned by the anticipated explosive expansion of AI-driven micro-enterprises, a trend that legacy payment systems will be unable to support without significant upgrades.
Among existing solutions, the x402 payment protocol developed by Coinbase (COIN.US) has demonstrated strong user adoption.
Since its launch in May 2025, the protocol has processed a cumulative $15 million in transaction value across more than 109 million transactions.
By October 2025, its transaction scale experienced exponential growth, with monthly transaction counts surging from 40,000 to 3.8 million, and a single-month processing volume reaching 38 million transactions.
Concurrently, the machine payment protocol launched by Tempo is operating in a dual-track mode, supporting both on-chain cryptocurrency payments and fiat payments via a shared payment token, catering to diverse scenarios.
Visa and Artemis are advocating for a unified machine payment framework that can accommodate both stablecoins and traditional card transactions to fully streamline AI-driven payment processes.
Visa is working to extend this framework to card-based AI agent commerce through its Card Specification SDK.
Notably, both Visa's cryptocurrency division and Tempo, which is backed by Stripe, introduced new tools in March: the former aims to enable same-day payments for AI agents, while the latter focuses on simplifying fund flows for AI entities, marking a significant step towards the practical implementation of machine payment protocols.
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