#589
Merchant of Algorithms
Published:
May 03, 2025
Author:
Sarah Parsons Wolter
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For decades, credit cards have acted as silent sentinels of modern commerce — ever-present, rarely questioned, and largely unchanged in their fundamental function. But this week, Visa and Mastercard signaled a dramatic shift. With the unveiling of new AI-powered shopping tools, these legacy giants are no longer content to be passive payment rails. They’re aiming to become intelligent layers in the consumer journey — processing preferences, predicting intent, and inserting themselves earlier into the decision-making funnel.
Rather than simply reacting to a tap or swipe, these systems are designed to shape behavior preemptively, surfacing deals, suggesting merchants, and prioritizing loyalty — all without ever issuing a new card. The battlefield isn’t just about checkout anymore; it’s about influence, data, and upstream control.
In a payments landscape increasingly crowded by digital wallets, embedded finance, and tech-native upstarts, the old guard is trading plastic for prediction. The future of spending may no longer be defined by where money goes, but by who — or what — decides where it starts.
Portfolio News
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PrismHR and Vestwell join forces to deliver integrated retirement solutions - Through this partnership, PrismHR will now offer flexible, cost-effective pooled retirement solutions and other savings benefits powered by Vestwell’s cutting-edge technology. This collaboration enables PrismHR’s customers to provide a broader range of retirement solutions with ease to their clients. Read more
Bitcoin acts like ‘store of value that it is’ amid Trump policy chaos: NYDIG - Bitcoin is starting to act as a store of value during times of “US-risk-off” sentiment, marking a potential shift in its relationship with traditional assets, according to NYDIG’s global head of research, Greg Cipolaro. Cipolaro noted that Bitcoin has gained more than 13% since the beginning of April, while US markets such as the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq have declined amid escalating global trade tensions due to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Read more
Merchant of Algorithms
Visa gives AI shopping agents ‘intelligent commerce’ superpowers - The system allows users to securely upload their card information to an AI agent via Visa’s payment passkeys, which is then tokenized. Users can provide payment instructions and set customizable parameters, like spending limits, enabling the AI agent to find and purchase items or services on their behalf. Read more
Mastercard debuts Agent Pay to promote ‘agentic commerce future’ - Mastercard has launched Agent Pay, its agentic artificial intelligence (AI)-driven payments program. The new offering introduces Mastercard’s Agentic Tokens, which the company said builds upon tokenization capabilities that power global commerce solutions like mobile contactless payments, along with programmable payments such as recurring expenses and subscriptions. Read more
Industry News
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Solana Policy Institute, Orca, and Superstate propose SEC-backed framework to bring Wall Street stocks to the blockchain - Under Project Open, issuers would issue "their token shares" through a registration statement and would be subject to reporting requirements, according to the group's filing. The filing also proposed relief for blockchain not to be subject to any SEC registration. Read more
KKR and Capital Group seek to lure investors to private markets with new funds - Capital Group and KKR are set to launch new funds spanning private loans, corporate buyouts, and infrastructure and property deals in the latest tie-up between big traditional asset managers and private capital firms. The two have agreed to jointly offer a wide range of funds for individual investors that will mix traditional stocks and bonds with unlisted assets such as corporate takeovers. Read more
Mastercard unveils end-to-end stablecoin capabilities, will launch card with OKX - Mastercard’s initiative covers the full range of stablecoin use cases, from wallet enablement and card issuance to merchant settlement and on-chain remittances. The company has previously partnered with crypto exchanges like Kraken, Binance and Crypto.com to allow users to pay with stablecoins via traditional cards. Read more
Ministers threaten new pensions law if funds fail to fulfil UK investment pledge - A deal to be signed next month would see pension funds agree to allocate 10% of their assets to private funds by the end of the decade, with half in the UK. But industry executives say the Treasury has warned them it may mandate the requirement if pension funds fail to hit the new targets. Read more
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Select Financings
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Materials Market - UK based building materials marketplace raised £2m in new funding led by Fuel Ventures. Read more
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Navro - London based international payments platform raised €36m in Series B funding led by Jump Capital. Read more
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Rogo - New York based AI platform for finance raised $50m in Series B funding led by Thrive Capital. Read more
Sprive - London based mortgage overpayment platform raised $7.3m in new funding led by Ascension. Read more
TeamOhana - San Francisco based headcount management platform raised $7.5m in Seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau. Read more
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Thunes - Singapore based cross border payments platform raised $150m in Series D funding led by Apis Partners and Vitruvian Partners. Read more
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