Visa introduced a new product, Visa CLI, enabling AI agents to independently initiate and execute online payments. The company also announced support for a new standard for automated payments between AI agents, launched by Tempo.
Visa Crypto Labs, a division of payments giant Visa, unveiled Visa CLI, a command-line interface through which AI agents can pay for required services and resources directly while executing tasks. The product launch was announced by Cuy Sheffield, Head of Visa Crypto Labs.
Visa CLI enables programmable card payments without the use of API keys, reducing the risk of sensitive data leaks when working with autonomous systems. The solution is designed for scenarios where AI agents automatically perform transactions as part of code execution or business logic.
Visa also announced support for the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), a new standard for automated payments between AI agents, launched by Tempo, a division of payment provider Stripe. The solution defines how tokenized card data is transmitted, authenticated, and processed within machine payment workflows.
MPP is an open standard describing a scenario in which an AI agent requests a resource, the service returns a payment requirement, and the agent authorizes the transaction within the same interaction, without using a browser or redirecting to checkout pages.
As part of its support for MPP, Visa acted as a design partner for the protocol and developed a card extension of the standard, releasing an SDK for developers that simplifies the integration of card payments into MPP-compatible solutions. The tool is designed for programmable environments and allows AI agents to execute transactions without user interfaces, directly within API interactions.
According to Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships at Visa, integrating the MPP protocol is intended to expand its capabilities beyond on-chain payments by connecting it to the global card network, which processes the majority of global transactions.
MPP support is built on Visa’s existing infrastructure, including Visa Intelligent Commerce and Trusted Agent Protocol, which provide tokenization, authentication, and identification of AI agents. This approach enables new machine payment scenarios to be integrated into the existing global network without compromising security standards.
Notably, the product launch reflects growing interest in infrastructure for agent-based payments. In recent months, alternative standards have emerged in the market, including Coinbase’s x402 solution, which underpins a crypto wallet infrastructure for AI agents, as well as the ERC-8183 standard for settlements between AI agents within the Ethereum ecosystem.
At the same time, companies are actively expanding infrastructure for executing financial transactions without human involvement. For example, a non-custodial infrastructure called MoonPay Agents was introduced, allowing autonomous AI agents to access crypto wallets and funds to perform transactions independently. Alchemy launched a mechanism that enables AI agents to independently register, pay for services, and access institutional-grade data from over 100 blockchains. Meanwhile, deBridge introduced an MCP server that allows AI agents to perform cross-chain operations without transferring control over funds.
