Visa, the global payment giant, is doubling down on its commitment to artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of commerce and settlements.
They’ve unveiled a fresh initiative, committing a substantial $100 million to fund generative AI ventures.
The primary focus of this initiative is to support companies dedicated to advancing generative AI technologies and their applications in the fields of commerce and payments.
This investment endeavor will be spearheaded by Visa’s global corporate investment arm, Visa Ventures, which has been a driving force behind fostering innovation in the payments and commerce sectors since 2007.
Generative AI stands out as a remarkable AI technology capable of creating diverse content types such as text, imagery, audio, and synthetic data.
Prominent AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard exemplify the immense potential of generative AI by comprehending and generating human-like written content.
Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Jack Forestell, envisions a bright future for generative AI in the financial domain.
He believes that this technology will not only reshape our lifestyles and professional landscapes but also significantly transform commerce in unprecedented ways.
Visa’s latest foray into generative AI builds upon its substantial efforts to integrate AI technology into its ecosystem. Back in 1993, Visa was among the pioneers in adopting AI for payment systems, particularly for risk and fraud management.
In 2022, their real-time payment fraud monitoring solution, Visa Advanced Authorization, played a pivotal role in thwarting an estimated $27 billion in fraudulent transactions.
In 2021, Visa introduced VisaNet +AI, a comprehensive suite of AI-based services dedicated to streamlining account balance management and resolving everyday settlement issues for financial institutions.
This suite includes innovative features such as Smarter Stand-In Processing, which enhances payment experiences during outages by replicating issuer approval decisions, and Smarter Posting, which expedites consumer payments while reducing the complications associated with posting delays.
In addition to their significant investments in AI, Visa has exhibited a strong interest in leveraging cryptocurrency technology for payments.
In April 2021, the company unveiled plans for a new crypto product aimed at popularizing the adoption of public blockchain networks and stablecoin payments within the mainstream financial landscape.
