In the run-up to eCommerce Expo 2026, I’m already seeing AI dominate conversations. Whether it’s agentic shopping assistants or autonomous purchasing, the focus is mainly around how AI can transform the customer journey.
But while this debate continues to unfold amongst retailers, payment providers should really be considering a different question – namely, if AI becomes the interface for commerce, who controls payment choice?
AI is the next platform dependency
The payments industry has navigated platform shifts before and this feels like another moment where the ground is starting to move.
We saw it with the rise of ecommerce marketplaces, digital wallets and mobile commerce. These all changed how payments were made while creating new layers between merchants and shoppers. And AI represents the next evolution of that trend.
As shoppers increasingly turn to AI assistants to research, compare and make recommendations on everything from the household shop to the family holiday, the point of influence is moving further way from the traditional checkout experience.
Today, I’m still going to be sitting down with my laptop, comparing the best deals before entering my card details to book my trip to Greece, but tomorrow, that whole experience could be managed by an AI agent acting on my behalf.
At that point, the payment experience is no longer just a final step. It is part of a recommendation journey that may already have been shaped elsewhere.
In this world, simple being available won’t be enough. You need to ensure your payment service remains part of the decision-making process.
The checkout is disappearing
A lot of the excitement around agentic commerce focuses on a future where AI agents can complete purchases autonomously.
Whether that future arrives in two years or ten, I’d argue the more immediate shift is already underway: the checkout experience is becoming less visible.
Shoppers increasingly expect speed, convenience and minimal friction.
AI has the potential to accelerate this mindset by reducing the number of decisions shoppers have to make during the purchase journey.
For payment providers, this creates a strategic challenge that is easy to underestimate. If customers no longer actively choose how to pay, what factors determine which payment methods, wallets or providers are selected?
The industry’s next battleground may not be transaction processing. It may be recommendation, integration and preference.
Why payment providers are rethinking their position
This helps explain why many payment firms are expanding beyond pure transaction processing. All of a sudden we are seeing companies reshape their products to include value-adds, such as fraud prevention or merchant intelligence. All with the aim of maintaining influence within a commerce ecosystem that is becoming increasingly automated.
As AI intermediaries continue to take a greater role in how people discover, evaluate and purchase products, payment providers will need to ensure they are integrated into the platforms and systems shaping those decisions.
The new battleground is visibility
Over the next year, the most successful payment providers may not be those making the boldest AI announcements.
Instead, they may be the ones focused on ensuring they remain visible and valuable as payment itself becomes increasingly invisible.
That means strengthening partnerships, expanding ecosystem integrations, delivering trusted performance and creating services that make payment decisions easier for merchants, consumers, and eventually, the AI agents acting on their behalf.
A question worth asking at eCommerce Expo
For me, the biggest question payment providers should be asking themselves is if AI becomes the front door to commerce, how do you ensure you’re still part of the transaction?
Because when AI-mediated commerce reaches scale, the winners may not be the companies processing payments most efficiently.
They may be the companies that found a way to remain indispensable, even when consumers no longer see the payment process at all.
If you’d like to discuss how you can create a clear and ownable category narrative and ensure you stay visable in an AI era, please reach out to [email protected].
