This Week in Credit Cards: Visa Partners With OpenAI as Mastercard Debuts Agent Pay for Machines

Visa and Mastercard continued to stake their claims this week in what’s quickly becoming the next major battleground in digital payments: AI agents that can shop and pay on consumers’ behalf.

At the Visa Payments Forum in San Francisco, Visa unveiled a strategic alliance with OpenAI. The collaboration will allow for secure Visa payments in agentic commerce, the company said in a press release.

AI could soon shop and pay for you, a 20-year credit card fee fight may be ending, and crypto is finding a new path into credit at @coinbase. Find out what else happened This Week in Credit Cards 💳https://t.co/UsRFytskPU pic.twitter.com/cK0e9M6ZBG

— CardRates News (@CardRatesNews) June 11, 2026

To help accomplish that, Visa’s payment capabilities will integrate with OpenAI to make it easier for businesses and developers to take Visa payments that AI agents initiate. 

Visa has a vision for how artificial intelligence will impact buying and selling in the future. Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Visa, said AI will overhaul commerce to a greater extent than even mobile technology or the internet did.

Meanwhile, Mastercard rolled out its Agent Pay for Machines service this week so agents can make fast and secure payments across the company’s global network. Companies including Coinbase and Stripe are among the first to leverage the new service and support its adoption.

Mastercard said in a press release that Agent Pay for Machines will help AI innovators to enable payments that are both reliable and safe as software starts initiating transactions on its own.

Visa and Mastercard are at the center of another big story in the credit card world this week that’s been decades in the making.

Brian Cogan, a U.S. District Judge in Brooklyn, gave preliminary approval to a settlement that could conclude a legal battle between merchants and the payment networks that began more than 20 years ago.

Many merchants believe that interchange fees are too high, and they turned to the courts in 2005 in an effort to see those charges reduced. Under the terms of the $38 billion settlement, Visa and Mastercard will lower interchange fees by 0.1 percentage points for five years and place a cap of 1.25% on standard consumer rates for eight years.

In addition, the settlement would put merchants in a position to refuse to accept certain credit cards if they want. Some merchants may elect not to take rewards credit cards if doing so doesn’t align with their business priorities.

$0B$38B Estimated value of Visa and Mastercard's settlement with merchants

Groups such as the Electronic Payments Coalition applauded Cogan’s preliminary approval, saying it provides meaningful solutions for both consumers and businesses. But the National Retail Federation said that the settlement doesn’t offer any meaningful relief. 

The federation’s stance suggests that this battle may not be over just yet.

Chase announced new benefits for its popular Sapphire Preferred credit card this week.

Just in time for the summer vacation season, many of the card’s changes are likely to please most travelers.

The company will not be increasing the annual fee on the card, which is currently $95, with the rollout of the enhancements.

Beginning June 15, cardholders will be able to earn 3X points on EV charging and gas purchases. The additional benefit for buying gas should help those going on road trips in the coming months to manage sticker shock at the pump. 

Chase will also give 3X points for purchases people make with the card on vacation rentals with Airbnb and Vrbo. For people who prefer to stay in hotels, Chase has them covered. Cardholders will now get a $100 Chase Travel Hotel Credit on each account anniversary, doubling the amount they used to receive.

Those opting to put travel aside this year may appreciate a new perk that allows cardholders to subscribe to Apple TV for free for one year.

Chase also said in a press release that it is changing the value of points that customers transfer to World of Hyatt. The points ratio transfer was 1 to 1 and very popular among travel hackers, but it will change to 4 to 3. That change is effective on October 1, 2026 for current cardholders and those who apply before June 15.

It will be effective immediately to people who apply for the card on June 15 or later.

Bank of America introduced a number of changes this week that can help cardholders to more effectively manage their finances. Eligible customers with a Customized Cash Rewards, Travel Rewards, or Unlimited Cash Rewards card can now access the bank’s referral program, Refer-A-Friend.

The program allows Bank of America customers to share referral links via email, social media, or text to family and friends who may be interested in signing up for a credit card with the company. Referring customers can earn up to $500 or 50,000 points annually through the program.

The bank is also giving customers more ways to pay for their credit card purchases. With the Custom Pay Plan, cardholders who make a qualifying purchase with their eligible BofA card can use the bank’s mobile app or online banking interface to set up a structured payment plan.

Instead of paying interest, cardholders pay a fixed monthly fee with the Custom Pay Plan.

Bank of America also announced a new tool that aims to help customers stay on top of their credit profile. Eligible customers can use the solution, which allows them to access their credit report and view their FICO score, for free.

Crypto exchange Coinbase has a new payment card in the works that will extend credit secured by stablecoin holdings on the platform. The company is partnering with San Francisco-based fintech Cardless to bring the new card to market, according to a PYMNTS report.

Michael Spelfogel, Co-Founder of Cardless, said in an interview this week with CoinDesk that the card is intended to suit people with stablecoins who aren’t able to get cards through traditional channels.

The new card isn’t the first payment product to come out of the teamwork between Coinbase and Cardless. The two companies introduced a card in 2025 that makes use of American Express’s network. That product allows users to earn up to 4% back in bitcoin on purchases.

Spelfogel said that some people want to use this type of payment method because of their belief in crypto, though they’ve only started accumulating wealth. According to CoinDesk, Cardless has facilitated credit card offerings for other brands in the past, including global B2B marketplace Alibaba.

Thanks for checking out this week’s version of This Week in Credit Cards. Please note that This Week in Credit Cards will be on hiatus next week but will return the week of June 22.