Transforming payments technology with AI

Solving payment problems with AI

 

According to a recent guide to payments from Stripe, AI brings a new level of intelligence and adaptability to payments – not just by spotting patterns in data but acting on them in real time to optimise each transaction.

 

As well as addressing fraud and payment failures, AI can analyse the unique context of each checkout session: who the customer is, the device they are using, their purchase history and what they’re buying. Using these signals, AI can be used to optimise the checkout flow by avoiding unnecessary choices (offering an inappropriate payment method can reduce conversion rates significantly), maintaining persuasive messages and achieving the best balance between security and customer convenience.

 

This level of personalisation has been shown to significantly reduce drop-offs. Stripe has trained its payment systems on hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions around the world, meaning that it can fine-tune payment experiences for each customer segment and geography while still protecting merchant and customer privacy.

 

Another problem that AI can address is the cost of chargebacks. As online shopping has grown, chargebacks have also grown, and increasingly, many of these chargebacks are unjustified or even fraudulent. AI can help retailers determine whether a chargeback is justified; for example, a purchaser may simply need reminding of why a debit has been incurred. But AI can also flip dispute management from a reactive process into a proactive one by identifying risky charges before they become disputes and allowing businesses to intervene early, for example, by issuing refunds for known faulty goods or flagging suspicious behaviour.

 

AI agents and the future of e-commerce

 

While AI is already transforming today’s payment systems, the next wave of change will come from AI agents, autonomous systems capable of making purchasing decisions on behalf of users.

 

Imagine a world where your customer isn’t a person clicking the Buy Now button, but an AI assistant reordering supplies, booking services or managing subscriptions on behalf of their operator. These transactions will need to be machine-readable, fraud-resistant and instantly verifiable. When this happens, businesses will need checkout and authentication processes that are optimised for both human customers and AI agents. Preparing for this agentic commerce model will result in more cost-efficient payment systems, as well as happier, more loyal customers.

 

Preparing for the AI payments era

 

The use of AI in payment processes will drive up revenue through higher conversion rates and fewer failed transactions. It will also drive down costs with reduced losses from fraud and less time spent managing disputes.

 

To get started, organisations should:

• Audit payment performance: identify where authorisation rates drop, where fraud spikes and where disputes consume resources
• Integrate adaptive intelligence: use AI models that continuously learn from global data patterns
• Balance automation with oversight: automate risk decisions while maintaining human oversight and robust governance frameworks
• Prepare for AI agents: design payment systems that are ready for both human and machine buyers

The opportunity is clear: better payment performance, stronger customer trust and a more intelligent digital commerce ecosystem. Businesses that embed intelligence into their payment infrastructure can turn what was once a cost centre into a competitive advantage.

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To explore how AI is reshaping payments, and how businesses can capitalise on the opportunity, read the full Stripe report: How AI is Transforming Payments