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SAN FRANCISCO — <\/span>Payments giant Visa said Wednesday that it has embedded its payment network inside of ChatGPT, empowering the chatbot to independently shop and complete transactions<\/a> on behalf of its user.<\/p>\n It means AI agents can not only recommend products<\/a> but complete the purchase on the user\u2019s behalf, at potentially any merchant that accepts Visa. The payment network’s previous attempts at this technological leap were confined to a single retailer or a small set of enrolled merchants.<\/p>\n It is not OpenAI\u2019s<\/a> first attempt at e-commerce. The company late last year announced Instant Checkout, which allowed ChatGPT to scour the internet for a specific item like a digital personal shopper. But the process was prone to errors and was not widely adopted by merchants due to the fee that OpenAI was charging merchants. The company retired Instant Checkout in March.<\/p>\n Visa\u2019s collaboration is different from OpenAI\u2019s previous attempts, as it will allow users to link their Visa cards to ChatGPT to shop and make it easier for merchants to accept transactions initiated by agents.<\/p>\n OpenAI will provide the technology to allow agents to interact, make decisions and initiate purchases through ChatGPT. Visa, the world\u2019s largest payment network outside of China, will provide the payment authorization and fraud monitoring needed to do this at scale.<\/p>\n \u201cAs AI agents become active participants in the economy, Visa\u2019s focus is to ensure transactions are trusted, secure and seamless,\u201d said Jack Forestell, chief product and strategy officer at Visa.<\/p>\n Speaking at a company event Wednesday in San Francisco Wednesday, Forestell gave an example of a customer telling ChatGPT they’re looking for a pair of wireless headphones under $150. The chatbot would find a pair for sale under those parameters and buy it on behalf of the customer.<\/p>\n Visa and OpenAI did not disclose the financial terms of the collaboration and did not give details on the fees merchants or customers would have to pay. <\/p>\n Instant Checkout charged merchants 4% of the transaction’s value, which merchants saw as being too expensive.<\/p>\n Allowing AI agents to buy products on behalf of a consumer raises concerns for both banks and retailers. A customer could overspend, or the agent buys the wrong item, or the customer claims they did not authorize that transaction. Banks have been concerned about potential fraud claims that could occur when an agent uses a bank customer\u2019s credit or debit card.<\/p>\n Visa says the feature will have guardrails like spending limits, required approval steps and approved merchants for shopping in order to protect consumers and minimize fraud.<\/p>\n