Visa, BILL and Billtrust have launched a live pilot that enables AI agents to complete approved business invoice payments through supplier portals without manual intervention.

The pilot aims to automate a step in B2B payments that often requires finance teams to log into supplier portals and manually enter payment details, even after an invoice has been approved.

Announced in Las Vegas on 20 October, the initiative is described by the companies as the first live pilot of its kind. It uses capabilities from Visa Intelligent Commerce, Visa’s portfolio for AI-initiated payments.

Human authentication requirements on supplier portals have previously limited how much of the payment process businesses could automate.

BILL’s Payment Agent starts the process using Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol and Agentic Directory. The protocol allows websites to verify the identity of authorised AI agents.

The agent then uses tokenised payment credentials to initiate card payments on behalf of BILL’s customers. These credentials replace sensitive card details with digital tokens.

Billtrust then uses Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol to recognise and authenticate the agent before granting it access to the supplier’s payment portal.

According to the companies, this authentication can satisfy protections traditionally provided by CAPTCHA and other bot-blocking tools without requiring a separate agent login.

Buyers and suppliers can track the authorisation and completion of each payment, which follows the buyer’s approved instructions and relates to a specific invoice.

AI agents do not independently decide which invoices to pay. They only execute eligible payments that buyers have already approved.

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