This Week in Credit Cards: Building Trust in AI Commerce

American Express took great strides this week to bring security and transparency to agentic commerce. The leading payments network announced it is taking steps to shield users from charges that can occur when an AI agent makes a purchasing error.

The news from American Express is something many consumers needed to hear before they turned their card over to an AI agent. A recent survey reveals that 30% of people say they would allow an AI agent to make purchases on their behalf.

This Week in Credit Cards, Amex works to build agentic trust, a new card secured by mineral rights, and more. Catch up on the top 5 credit card stories of the week: https://t.co/2b1s7BzB2p pic.twitter.com/Xvx0hr6dla

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But the potential for that agent to purchase something they don’t have authorization to buy could force the cardholder to spend time trying to rectify the issue. That risk may cause people to think twice about whether using an AI agent for shopping tasks is worth potential hassles.

American Express also introduced a developer kit this week that connects developers with services they can use to verify AI agents, which would help keep the American Express network free from malicious agents. 

Global consulting firm Bain & Company predicts the U.S. agentic commerce market may reach $300 billion to $500 billion by 2030. New solutions such as the ones American Express rolled out this week can help encourage consumers to engage with AI agents for their shopping needs.

This week brought another chapter to the story of the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) in Illinois, but it most certainly won’t be the last. The act aims to block financial institutions from charging interchange fees on the tax and tip portions of a bill that a customer pays with a credit or debit card. 

But at a recent news conference, Ashley Sharp from the Illinois Credit Union Association said that the global payment system doesn’t allow any single party to a transaction to meet the requirements of the IFPA on its own. 

The act takes effect on July 1, and — with less than three months to go until that date — the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is moving to preempt the rule from a federal level.

The Electronic Payments Coalition is behind a series of ads that warn the general public about the chaos that may ensue if lawmakers don’t repeal the act before it goes into effect. 

However, a group representing merchants in the state believes that a simple coding change is all it would take to implement the law, according to nonprofit news group Capital News Illinois. We’ll continue to track this story which could have implications for the entire country, as new developments come to light.

Another tax season has come and gone, and this one brought good news for consumers who have been struggling to pay down their credit card debt. 

Many U.S. tax filers are getting big refunds this year. A new report from Bloomberg discloses that the average refund on federal taxes in 2026 is approximately $3,500. 

That figure is roughly $350 more than the average refund amount last year. Bloomberg indicates that the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act from President Donald Trump is the cause of the larger refunds in 2026. 

While some people may be tempted to use their refunds to splurge on a trip or fund one of their hobbies, many consumers are using those higher refunds to pay down credit card balances and student loans.

The report noted that people who filed their taxes early this year boosted debt payments by roughly 20% within three weeks after receiving tax refunds.

Fintech company Frontlands is launching a secured card that allows people to use the mineral rights they own as collateral. The new credit card may be a great tool for people who want to grow their purchasing power but lack the traditional assets many credit card issuers look for.

The new product, which Frontlands says is the first credit card of its kind, will be available in June. 

More good news for cardholders is that the new card will come with a competitive rate. In the U.S., many credit cards come with rates north of 20%. But Frontlands is targeting a figure in the range of 14% to 18% for the new card, according to American Banker.

The company has released an early version of the card in select markets, including New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas. And Frontlands said it has seen strong results in those markets as average credit lines on the card are more than $30,000, which is more than twice the amount the company initially projected.

Financial services company Synchrony announced a new credit card this week that stands to appeal to people who enjoy buying luxury furnishings for their home. The new card, known as the RH Card, is a solution people can use to access benefits when purchasing items from the home furnishing brand RH. 

While premium home decor can make a house more attractive, it can also put a strain on a consumer’s budget. But the RH Card puts people in a position to save by offering promotional financing on purchases from the company’s website as well as at RH locations throughout the U.S.

Synchrony also revealed that it is giving RH access to its credit decisioning system to provide the company with a more complete picture of a person’s creditworthiness.

While the two companies only introduced the card this week, Synchrony is no stranger to the home furnishings industry. The company said in a press release that it partners with many retailers one can find in Furniture Today’s Top 100, which is a ranking of leading furniture stores in the U.S.

Be sure to visit our site next week for another edition of This Week in Credit Cards. In the meantime, explore our social media accounts on Bluesky, LinkedIn, and X where you can find interviews with industry insiders and additional reporting on the stories impacting the credit card industry. 

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