[Worldline, Visa, ING video interview] Europe’s live agentic payment

Worldline, ING, and Visa say they have completed a live end-to-end agentic payment transaction in Europe. That matters because the discussion around agentic commerce has so far been dominated by prototypes and future-state thinking. 

In this interview, we sat down with Madalena Cascais Tomé, Member of Executive Committee, Worldline, Hans Overeem, Head of Payments, ING Netherlands, and Mathieu Altwegg, SVP, Head of Product and Solutions Europe, Visa. Together, the three companies frame the milestone less as a technical demonstration and more as evidence that agentic payments can be built around issuer control, consumer consent, and European regulatory expectations from the outset.

 

From concept to production

The most notable point in the discussion is not simply that an AI-enabled transaction took place, but that it was executed in a live production environment and across the full payment chain. Madalena Cascais Tomé argues that this distinguishes the announcement from earlier market narratives: the transaction connected the merchant side, the network, and the issuer, while preserving consumer authentication and authorisation through a seamless passkey-based experience.

That issuer role is central. Hans Overeem explains that the bank remains responsible for authenticating, authorising, and consenting to the transaction, while also recognising the agent through the relevant protocol. In practice, this is the industry’s answer to the core concern around agentic commerce: whether AI can act without eroding trust. The message from the interview is clear. Agentic payments will only gain traction if they feel as safe and intelligible as any other digital payment interaction.

Mathieu Altwegg positions Visa's contribution as the framework layer required to scale that trust model. He points to standards within the Visa Intelligence Commerce framework, including a trusted agent programme designed to identify agents and create visibility around the transactions they initiate. 

What scale will actually require

The interview also avoids portraying one live transaction as proof of immediate mass adoption. Instead, the speakers outline four conditions for scale: compelling use cases, pan-European interoperability, common standards and governance, and alignment with European regulation.

That final point is especially important. Europe’s payments market does not reward innovation that sits outside consumer protection, strong customer authentication, or established liability models. The companies’ argument is that agentic payments must develop within those guardrails, not around them. 

Consumer control, meanwhile, remains the decisive design principle. Altwegg describes this through 'trusted intent': a set of pre-defined conditions that specify merchant types, spending limits, and when verification is required. If that model holds, agentic commerce may become less about autonomous purchasing and more about programmable consent.

For the payments industry, that is the more credible path to adoption.

About the interviewee

Since October 2025, Madalena Cascais Tomé has served as Chief Financial Institutions & Processing Officer at Worldline. With extensive experience in payments and digital services across financial institutions, merchants, corporates, public entities, and consumers, as well as recognised leadership and strategic acumen, she brings invaluable expertise to guide Worldline’s Financial Services global division through its next strategic phase. Throughout her career, Madalena has demonstrated a strong commitment to innovation, impactful leadership, and the ability to navigate complex and rapidly evolving environments successfully.

Prior to joining Worldline, Madalena was Chief Executive Officer of SIBS Group, one of Europe’s leading interbank payment and digital services organisations, operating in over 20 markets. She led the company through a decade of significant innovation, transformation, and growth.

About the company

Worldline is Europe's leading operator of critical infrastructure and payment services. With a presence across the entire value chain, the Group offers its customers unique expertise in processing and securing their payments, thereby promoting their growth. Worldline is leveraging its 2030 strategic plan and its technological innovation capabilities to build the European reference payment partner for merchants and financial institutions, with over 1.2 million customers.