🧠 Agentic AI Hits Checkout

What a week hustlers! 🚀

Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal are building the AI agents that’ll shop for your customers automatically. On top of that, cross-border sellers are scrambling as the U.S. clamps down on low-value imports.

U.S. Bank is mixing old-school banking with FinTech vibes, Meta’s trying to dodge EU heat while doubling down on AI, and payment platforms are going full-stack to power global commerce.

Let’s get into it. 🔥

ECOMMERCE AI

🧠 Agentic AI Hits Checkout: Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal Bet Big

The future of payments is autonomous. AI agents will soon shop and pay on your behalf, powered by new tools from the world’s top payment giants.

Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal each revealed their agentic commerce strategies this week, where AI agents handle entire transactions for consumers. These initiatives hinge on tokenization, giving AI tools unique, card-linked tokens to make secure payments.

🛠 What’s launching:

• Visa Intelligent Commerce: Equips AI agents with payment tools built on 16-digit tokenized cards

• Mastercard Agent Pay: Allows AI purchases using secure, parameter-based digital tokens

• PayPal Agent Toolkit: Offers developers APIs so AI agents can plug directly into PayPal’s systems

Experts say agentic commerce could transform shopping like mobile once did. AI tools will surface SKUs, compare products, and finalize payments, all based on your preferences and behavior. Retailers that don’t optimize for this will fall behind.

SPONSORED BY SARAL

Influencers Are the New Billboards, Are You Showing Up?

In today's DTC world, influencers are where attention lives and SARAL is how smart brands are scaling their presence.

SARAL’s all-in-one platform helps you find niche influencers, automate your outreach, manage relationships, ship products, and track results—all without needing a dozen different tools.

What you’ll love:

• Fast onboarding—start seeing results in days, not months

• Affordable pricing—no confusing tiers or hidden fees

• Real support—monthly strategy sessions + instant Slack access

• Results that scale—brands like Obvi, Salud, Branch, Solawave use SARAL to get hundreds of creators talking about them,

Paid ads are getting more expensive. Influencer content is authentic, high-converting, and cost-effective. With SARAL, you own the relationship, the content, and the results.

👉 Book a free demo today.

ECOMMERCE NEWS

📦 De Minimis No More: E-Com Sellers Face a Tariff Reckoning

Starting May 3, U.S. tariffs on cheap Chinese imports kicked in, shaking up fulfillment strategies and threatening smaller brands.

The de minimis rule, which let merchants skip duties on shipments under $800, is ending for goods from China and Hong Kong. Now, retailers must contend with a 145% base tariff, plus category-specific fees. Platforms like Shein and Temu are already raising prices, while smaller brands scramble to adjust.

🛑 What’s happening:

• Tariffs now apply to low-cost Chinese imports, including those shipped via UPS, FedEx, and the postal network

• Brands like Kuru Footwear and ThirdLove are rerouting supply chains and relocating inventory to U.S. warehouses

• Over 80% of execs surveyed said the end of de minimis threatens their company’s survival

• Temu and Shein have raised prices by 40–100% and are shifting to “local” U.S. stock

Some companies are rushing to fulfill final duty-free orders, while others brace for margin destruction or supply chain overhauls. The tariff’s impact will be felt across apparel, footwear, and beyond, especially if other countries lose de minimis eligibility next.

DIGITAL PAYMENTS

🏦 U.S. Bank Bets on FinTech ‘Co-opetition’ to Streamline Payments

From tokenization to AI, legacy banks and startups are teaming up to redefine global commerce.

The world of global payments is evolving fast and U.S. Bank is leaning into collaboration over competition.

🔍 Key moves and trends:

• Growing demand for tokenized payments and identity, digital wallets, and frictionless cross-border transactions

• Tools like Avvance POS lending are becoming central to checkout experiences with fraud defense baked in

• AI will reshape every aspect of banking and payments in 3–5 years

Whether it’s fraud prevention, loyalty programs, or global currency management, the future of payments is flexible, embedded, and fast. U.S. Bank sees “omnipresent” payment infrastructure as the key to supporting both startups and global enterprises in an increasingly borderless economy.

ECOMMERCE AI

🤖Meta Bets Big on AI as EU Crackdown Looms

Meta promises smarter tools and massive spending, but Europe’s not buying it.

Meta is pouring up to $72 billion into AI data centers in 2025 as demand surges for its in-app AI tools and advertising intelligence.

🔍 Key Highlights:

• Standalone Meta AI chatbot launched to rival ChatGPT & Gemini

• AI to boost ad targeting, automate commerce messaging via WhatsApp and Messenger

• Meta’s new no-ads subscription model faces EU roadblocks under the Digital Markets Act

CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that Meta’s AI can soon handle mid-level software engineering tasks, with full scaling expected by 2026. But trouble’s brewing: The EU may force a major revenue model overhaul. Despite these headwinds, Meta’s Q1 crushed expectations: $16.6B profit on $42.3B revenue, up 35% and 16% respectively.

ECOMMERCE TRENDS

🌍 Cross-Border Commerce Demands Seamless Payments Integration

Processors are evolving into one-stop shops and friction is out. Today’s global commerce isn’t just about processing payments, it’s about integration.

Brands now want native wallets, real-time fraud protection, and spending controls all in one stack. The idea? Offer clients one set of APIs ,not ten vendors.

🔐 Key shifts:

• Move from rules-based fraud tools to AI-driven fraud-as-a-service

• Increased focus on device fingerprinting and dynamic CVVs

• Growing demand for integrated global money movement across regions

With cross-border commerce booming, integrated platforms help firms scale into new markets like the U.S. and Latin America without tech headaches. Offering seamless, secure service is more than a value-add, it’s a competitive edge.

Signing off,

The Merchant @CartHustle