While there has been considerable adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in local shoppers’ decision-making, allowing AI agents to conclude the transaction is still limited.
This is one of the findings in the 2026 Stay Secure study commissioned by Visa and conducted by Wakefield Research, between January 2025 and February 2026.
It surveyed 5 800 adult respondents across 17 markets in Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. In Africa, the markets included Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa.
The study aimed to determine consumer sentiment on the evolving role of AI in enhancing trust and security in digital payments, according to a Visa official.
Research has increasingly shown that South African shoppers are relying on AI tools to guide their shopping decisions, including comparing prices, finding ideas and checking reviews or product ratings. AI tools are also used for brainstorming gift ideas, researching products and interacting with customer service platforms.
The next stage in the AI-assisted commercial transaction chain is called agentic commerce, where purchases or commercial actions are initiated, negotiated, or completed by an AI agent on behalf of a user or business, often with minimal human involvement.
For South African consumers, embracing AI-assisted shopping has naturally evolved but trust is key at checkout, says Irene Auma, head of risk: Visa Southern and Eastern Africa.
Auma reveals the Stay Secure study shows 77% of South African consumers surveyed said they have used AI tools to assist with shopping-related tasks. However, only 23% today would trust an AI agent to complete checkout on their behalf.
“I spoke to a client recently and they told me they do their planning, compare hotels and ticket prices, and receive feedback using AI tools. However, when they reach a decision about which airline to book and which hotel to stay in, they go to the actual website where they can confirm their transaction is legitimate. The trust level on AI-enabled payment is still low when it comes to checkout for South African consumers.”
Comparing regional consumers in Nigeria, Kenya and Côte d'Ivoire, the Kenyan consumers (89%) are more comfortable interacting with AI for shopping comparisons, Nigeria is close at 88%, but Côte d'Ivoire is far behind at 59%.
From a global perspective, the retail and e-commerce agentic AI market is projected to reach $175 billion by 2030, she says.
Additionally, the influence of AI agents in enterprises is that they are expected to automate up to 80% of routine workflows by 2028.
“With adoption of agentic commerce or AI-driven commerce, consumers want a more frictionless experience when it comes to payments. At checkout, they (70%) just want to click, if they trust the transaction. Around 66% want biometric checkout.”
Evolving landscape
Other key findings in the study reveal social commerce is burgeoning, but the attack landscape and scam risks are also expanding, digital natives are increasingly exposed to online scams, and consumers expect the financial ecosystem to keep them safe, notes Auma.
The social commerce base is also growing, with 60% of consumers reported to have purchased products directly through social media platforms, she states.
At the same time, 53% of consumers who experienced a scam say it occurred on social media, while 37% reported to have experienced a financial scam on social media in the past 12 months.
“Out of 10 consumers making purchases on social media, six have experienced a scam while utilising a social media platform to shop. This shows that fraud is no longer separate, or a threat waiting for a transaction to happen.”
She explains that AI is a force multiplier for good and bad.
According to research, 42.5% of fraud attempts now involve AI, she points out, adding there was a 1 210% increase in AI-powered scams in 2025.
About 92% to 98% detection accuracy is achieved when AI systems are embedded to counter fraud, versus 25% human accuracy, she says. “We must fight smart attacks with smart counter-attacks, smart tools and smart capabilities. We need to continue investing and building native-AI risk controls and not legacy systems to fight smart fraud.”
Digital payments ascent
Data insights indicate stablecoin transactional volumes reached $33 trillion globally in 2025, representing a 70% year-on-year increase.
In addition, digital wallet users are projected to reach 5.2 billion, which will represent 60% of the world’s population.
In the context of South Africa, payments are happening across multiple channels and form factors, including digital payments, says Lineshree Moodley, country head of Visa South Africa.
The digital payments ecosystem has evolved from what it was a few years ago, she points out, explaining that digital payments kicked-off during the COVID-19 pandemic and that momentum has remained steady, continuing to accelerate.
While contactless payments were quite nascent some six years ago, they now account for over 65% of payments in South Africa, she notes.
Similarly, e-commerce has grown “significantly” over the last few years, with 70% of e-commerce transactions initiated on a smartphone. Digital wallet transactions grew by 132% between 2022 and 2025, she says.
“Digital wallets account for 30% of all face-to-face transactions across the market, which highlights the immense digital transformation we’re seeing across the market. We’re also seeing AI being embedded in a lot of these transactions.”
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