Visa Enhances Business Payments with AI and Fraud Detection Tools

Visa is embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the landscape of business payments, focusing on enhancing supplier analysis, streamlining fraud prevention, and automating invoice processes. This innovative approach aims to help businesses manage their payment operations more efficiently.

Introduction of Supplier Enablement Spend Analytics

One of the key innovations is the upgraded Supplier Enablement Spend Analytics platform, known as SESA 2.0. This tool harnesses AI to pinpoint suppliers that are more likely to accept commercial cards, while also predicting potential spending opportunities. Since its launch, SESA 2.0 has successfully identified over US$600 billion in prospective commercial card expenditures.

New Fraud Prevention Solutions

In addition to the analytics platform, Visa has rolled out its Commercial Fraud Solutions. This suite is designed to help businesses verify suppliers, authenticate users of virtual cards, and implement transaction controls to safeguard against fraud. Currently, these payment controls are accessible to qualified issuers in select markets, with tools for supplier validation and authentication still in the pilot phase, aiming for wider availability by 2027.

Automation and AI in Invoice Payments

Visa is also actively testing AI-driven invoice payment solutions in collaboration with industry partners such as BILL and Billtrust. This initiative enables authorized AI agents to execute approved transactions via supplier portals seamlessly. The live pilot program utilizes tokenized payment credentials instead of conventional shared logins, ensuring stronger security measures. Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol verifies the agents and their authorization levels, allowing for secure and efficient transactions.

Future of Business Payments

Darren Parslow, the global head of Visa Commercial Solutions, states, "Businesses are moving quickly to automate the work around payments, from identifying supplier opportunities to approving invoices and executing transactions. Our solutions are designed to provide them with the data, security, and control they require to enhance commercial card acceptance, protect virtual card transactions from fraud, and explore the capabilities of trusted AI agents to manage these processes efficiently."

As Visa continues to innovate in the payments sector, its focus on AI integration and robust fraud prevention mechanisms positions the company as a leader in the evolving landscape of business payments.