Visa Launches "Agentic Ready" Program with Over 50 Partners in Asia Pacific, Including Japan

Visa Worldwide Japan K.K. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Shitan Kitney; hereinafter: "Visa") announces the launch of its globally deployed "Visa Agentic Ready" program in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan. The "Visa Agentic Ready" program is designed to support the payment ecosystem in the era of agentic commerce.

The first phase of "Visa Agentic Ready" focuses on issuer readiness, providing a systematic process to test, validate, and understand agent-led transactions in a controlled, production-like environment. This program allows issuers to experience how AI agents initiate and complete transactions on behalf of consumers, and to verify their readiness for agentic commerce while maintaining the reliability, manageability, and protection that underpin the Visa network.

Regarding this initiative, Shitan Kitney, Representative Director and President of Visa Worldwide Japan K.K., commented: "As commerce automation advances, it is crucial for the entire ecosystem to establish a system that can responsibly support agent-led payments. Through Visa Agentic Ready, Visa will support Japanese issuers in steadily promoting their readiness for the next era of commerce in a safe and systematic environment."

"Visa Agentic Ready" is built leveraging Visa's foundational network capabilities such as tokens, identity, risk management, and controls, allowing for the verification of how trusted agent-led payments can be realized across various use cases. This is based on Visa Intelligent Commerce, Visa's strategic framework for realizing reliable AI-driven commerce experiences at scale.

**Scaling from Preparation to Live Operations**

To realize agentic commerce at scale, collaboration across the entire payment ecosystem is indispensable. This time, over 50 partners from 10 regions in Asia Pacific are participating in the Agentic Ready program. Among them, the issuers in Japan who have announced their participation in the "Visa Agentic Ready" program are as follows:

SB Payment Service Corp. Credit Saison Co., Ltd. Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd. Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS Co., Ltd. Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. (Company names listed in Japanese alphabetical order)

Through a controlled, production-like testing environment, this program verifies how agent-led payments function in a real-world setting, helping issuers respond with confidence as new experiences become a reality.

This initiative supports Visa's transition to intelligent and programmable commerce. It enables secure and flexible payments based on trusted credentials and network capabilities, according to consumer intent, context, and control conditions. As shopping experiences become increasingly automated, Visa supports the creation of an environment where agents can act seamlessly while consumers retain control.

Visa is committed to realizing reliable agent-led payments at scale by collaborating globally with AI platform providers, developers, merchants, and ecosystem partners. "Visa Agentic Ready" is a program designed to ensure issuers are equipped to safely and securely support these transactions.

This program will be rolled out in 10 regions across Asia Pacific: Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

**About Visa** As a global leader in electronic payments, Visa connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and government entities through payment transactions in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Visa's mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payment network, contributing to the prosperity of individuals, businesses, and economies. We believe that inclusive economics for everyone, everywhere, improves lives globally and that access to the economy is connected to the future of payments. For more details, please visit Visa.com (English site) or www.visa.co.jp (Japanese site).