Visa, BILL, and Billtrust launch AI agent payment pilot
A new pilot program has been launched by Visa, BILL, and Billtrust, enabling trusted AI agents to initiate and complete approved buyer invoice payments through supplier portals without human intervention. This collaboration utilizes the Visa Intelligent Commerce portfolio and the Visa Trusted Agent Protocol. The goal is to eliminate the need for human authentication, which often hinders the automation of approved payments.
Streamlining the payment process
The process begins with a BILL Payment Agent using tokenized payment credentials and controls that align with the buyer’s approved instructions. The agent issues payments on behalf of BILL’s customers, and through the Visa Intelligent Commerce portfolio, securely automates card payments for supplier invoices. Billtrust then uses the Visa Trusted Agent Protocol to recognize, authenticate, and grant access to the authorized agent, enabling BILL to complete the invoice payment on the customer’s behalf without manual submission.
For suppliers using Billtrust, this pilot program provides a means to recognize and accept payments initiated by trusted business agents. This approach helps release trapped cash while maintaining the necessary information to process and reconcile payments within their own payment policies. The pilot features a recognized and authenticated AI agent acting on behalf of an identified buyer, tokenized payment credentials, and payment controls tied to the customer’s approved payment instruction.
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Establishing trust in agentic commerce
According to Mike Cieri, BILL’s Chief Payments Officer, trust is a key requirement for agentic commerce. He emphasizes that security was the top priority in building the BILL Payment Agent, citing Visa’s tokenized credentials and finance teams’ controls. Kunal Patel, Senior Vice President of Payments Strategy at Billtrust, explains that the Trusted Agent Protocol authenticates trusted AI agents on their supplier portals, allowing approved invoice payments to be completed seamlessly. “Agentic commerce will only move forward if businesses can trust agents to operate across systems with the same clarity and accountability they expect from people,” he notes.
BILL has established key partnerships, including one with Intuit, a long-standing partner. BILL integrates with Intuit QuickBooks, allowing payables and receivables data to sync automatically with customers’ accounting records. The partnership has also led to the embedding of BILL within QuickBooks Online Advanced, providing small and mid-sized businesses with payment automation within their existing software. Additionally, Paychex collaborates with BILL on Bill Pay, Powered by BILL, which launched in 2025, bringing accounts payable automation to Paychex’s small and mid-sized business clients.
BMO has partnered with BILL to offer a digital payables and receivables product built on BILL’s platform, announced in 2023.
