Mastercard, Visa cardholders in UAE: Soon, AI will shop for you — and pay with your money

Dubai: If you use a Visa or Mastercard in the UAE, your next online shopping spree could happen without you even clicking “checkout.”

Both payment giants are introducing new systems that allow artificial intelligence to search, decide, and pay for purchases using your card — safely and within limits you set.

It’s part of what’s being called agentic commerce — a new era where AI agents act as verified shoppers on your behalf.

Search to self-shopping

Picture this: you tell your AI assistant, “Book me a flight to Bali and find a matching swimsuit.” Within seconds, it scans prices, picks deals that match your preferences, and pays — automatically. That’s exactly what Visa’s Intelligent Commerce and Mastercard’s AgentPay are designed to do.

Mastercard’s new AgentPay, built with Microsoft, takes payments to the next level. It connects AI chat systems directly to Mastercard’s secure payment network. That means your AI can plan, source, and pay — all within a single chat.

Visa’s Intelligent Commerce does the same. It works with OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Stripe to bring generative AI into everyday payments. As per Mastercard’s announcement earlier this year, both systems turn your AI into a “trusted agent” — able to make purchases just like you would, only faster.

UAE’s early advantage

The UAE is among the world’s most connected economies. Smartphone penetration exceeds 99%, and more than 70% of consumers already use digital wallets or mobile banking apps, according to data from Statista and Magnitt.

That makes the country a natural fit for AI-powered shopping. Imagine your UAE bank integrating this into their mobile apps, or an AI assistant booking your flights and hotel in one voice command.

UAE shoppers already value convenience — and this goes a step further. Your AI won’t just suggest; it will act, while keeping within the spending rules you define.

What consumers want

According to Visa’s global survey, 71% of consumers want generative AI to assist their shopping, and 58% already use AI tools instead of search engines. But confidence has slipped — satisfaction fell from 41% to 37% in the last year.

People like AI’s convenience but remain cautious about trust and security. That’s exactly why Visa and Mastercard are building systems with stronger safeguards than traditional e-commerce checkouts.

Safety meets automation

Security is being rewritten for the AI age. Cloudflare has partnered with Visa and Mastercard to develop Web Bot Auth, a system that uses cryptographic signatures to verify AI agents before they can make a payment.

Visa also launched a Trusted Agent Protocol, ensuring every AI agent is linked to verified credentials and spending limits. Mastercard’s tokenized payments further protect your data — replacing your actual card number with encrypted tokens.

As per industry experts, these guardrails mean your AI can’t just go rogue. It can only spend what you approve, where you approve. Chargebacks, fraud detection, and merchant authentication rules are all being redesigned to handle AI-driven transactions. In Mastercard’s words, they’re “turning trust into code.”

Everyday life in the UAE

For shoppers in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, this could soon change everything about online shopping.

Your AI could compare grocery prices across Carrefour, Noon, and Talabat Mart, then order the best deal. It could pay your DEWA, Etisalat, or Du bills or subscriptions automatically — using your saved card, within your preset budget.

Once approved, your AI could even automate repeat purchases like groceries or household supplies, learning your buying patterns to reorder before you run out.

Even travel bookings could become hands-free. Tell your AI to find “a weekend in Fujairah for under Dh1,500,” and it could handle the rest — finding hotels, sorting transport, and paying securely.

Business of AI shopping

Analysts cited by Digital Commerce 360 estimate AI agents could soon manage up to 20% of all e-commerce actions. PwC projects that AI could add $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.

For Visa and Mastercard, controlling the AI checkout means staying essential to how digital money moves. For merchants, it’s a new channel to reach consumers directly through AI assistants.

And for UAE residents, it’s a glimpse into what payments may look like soon — faster, predictive, and entirely automated, yet still under your control.

Your next online assistant might not just find you a deal — it might buy it for you. Safely. Instantly. And with your own credit card. So get ready for agentic commerce — where your wallet just got smart enough to shop for you.