Revolut Claims France’s First AI-Initiated Payment

Revolut says it has completed France’s first secure payment initiated by artificial intelligence, in a test carried out with Visa. The British fintech said the exercise aimed to “better understand how this type of payment could work in real purchasing situations.”

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better understand how this type of payment could work in real purchasing situations

With the customer’s authorization, an AI agent can handle the different stages of a purchase through to payment. During the test, Visa’s agent initiated a real transaction with the merchant Cleverbridge, while Visa Payment Passkey authenticated it. Visa presented the step as important to the future of AI-powered commerce.

The experiment focused on common payment scenarios. Revolut said it was intended to help shape the future of payments and make everyday financial experiences “simpler, faster and more intuitive,” while leaving customers “fully in control of their decisions.”

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important step toward the future of AI-powered commerce

Visa said the transaction used existing payment infrastructure and retained protections such as card security, identity checks and real-time fraud monitoring. The test comes as consumers increasingly use AI tools to search, compare and make decisions when shopping. Revolut cited France’s 2026 Digital Barometer, which says 51% of the French population uses generative AI tools.

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simpler, faster and more intuitive

The experiment was Revolut’s second such European test. Spanish bank Santander carried out what it described as Europe’s first end-to-end payment executed by an AI agent in March, working with Mastercard. Founded in 2015, Revolut reached a $115 billion valuation after a secondary share sale in July.

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fully in control of their decisions