Visa on June 30, 2026 outlined a series of AI, stablecoin and token capabilities aimed at helping clients across the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region take part in the next generation of commerce.
Ahead of the Visa Payments Forum in Paris on July 1, the company said artificial intelligence and stablecoins are reshaping both the front end and back end of commerce and money movement. Visa said it is working to help clients adapt, scale and build trusted new experiences.
“Commerce is entering a new phase that is increasingly intelligent, programmable, and embedded into everyday experiences,” said Tareq Muhmood, Regional President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa.
He added that companies serving the digital economy have a major opportunity, but also need trust and interoperability. Visa, he said, is focused on providing the infrastructure and intelligence needed to innovate across payments.
Visa said it is using AI to support the front end of commerce as more AI agents act on behalf of consumers and businesses. Its Visa Intelligent Commerce platform is designed to help securely discover, initiate and complete transactions.
The company also pointed to merchant enablement tools, including the newly launched Agent Score with New Generation, which allows merchants to assess whether their websites are ready for agentic commerce. Visa also launched Agentic Directory, a directory of verified agents and merchants for trusted transactions.
On tokenization, Visa said growth in CEMEA has been strong, with tokenized transactions rising from 26% in 2023 to 70% in 2026. The company said it is enriching token data with more transaction details and adding a token assurance signal based on provisioning and behavioural history.
Visa said these changes are meant to strengthen tokens as a foundation for trusted digital and AI driven commerce.
On the back end of money movement, Visa said it is expanding stablecoin settlement pilots across regions, blockchains and currencies. The company said it has moved billions of dollars in stablecoins across VisaNet, with an annualized run rate of about $7 billion as of March 2026.
Visa added that since launching stablecoin settlement capabilities a year ago in CEMEA, settlement volumes have increased nearly 60 times. It is also working to extend seven day settlement to acquirers, after issuing banks began settling seven days a week onchain with Visa.
The company said it continues to expand stablecoin linked card programmes, with more than 160 live or in development globally.
Visa also introduced an AI powered travel intelligence capability in CEMEA. The tool, called Visa Trip Intelligence, combines VisaNet intelligence with third party data to infer travel intent, generate personalised trip itineraries and provide activation ready insights for banks.
Visa said the capability is designed to help banks offer timely pre travel support, reduce payment friction and provide more relevant services to customers while they travel.
