Visa Report Finds Nearly Half Of US Consumers Used AI For Holiday Shopping This Season

by
Alisa Davidson

Revealed: December 05, 2025 at 8:22 am Up to date: December 05, 2025 at 8:22 am

by Ana

Edited and fact-checked:
December 05, 2025 at 8:22 am

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International fee know-how firm Visa, launched a brand new report indicating that just about half of US shoppers used AI for vacation buying duties this season, similar to worth comparability and product analysis. The report highlights a broader pattern during which AI, stablecoins, and different digital fee improvements are more and more influencing vacation commerce worldwide.

The analysis, performed by Morning Seek the advice of on behalf of Visa, notes that customers are adopting applied sciences that improve comfort, safety, and effectivity. AI is getting used to optimize reward choice and pricing, whereas instruments like facial recognition are streamlining fee authentication. Digital currencies are additionally gaining traction in rising markets, signaling a shift towards extra technologically built-in buying experiences.

The research surveyed shoppers throughout 12 international locations and located a transparent world pattern: AI, digital wallets, and digital currencies have gotten embedded in vacation spending behaviors. Whereas safety and fraud prevention stay prime priorities, there’s rising consolation with clever programs that help with decision-making. Amongst youthful shoppers, significantly Gen Z, technology-driven buying is shaping expectations for the way forward for commerce.

AI adoption for vacation buying is especially excessive in markets similar to Spain, Singapore, South Africa, the UAE, Brazil, and Mexico. In the USA, 47% of shoppers reported utilizing AI for at the least one shopping-related exercise, with the commonest purposes together with reward discovery, worth comparability, and product analysis. This factors to the emergence of an AI-assisted buying period, the place clever instruments assist not solely looking but additionally decision-making.

Crypto And Digital Wallets Take Heart Stage This Vacation Season

Digital currencies are more and more transferring from area of interest purposes towards mainstream use, significantly amongst youthful shoppers. In the USA, almost half of Gen Z respondents categorical enthusiasm for receiving cryptocurrency, a charge that’s nearly twice as excessive as the overall inhabitants. Stablecoins are additionally seeing rising curiosity, with 41% of US remittance customers indicating they’re seemingly to make use of stablecoins for worldwide cash transfers sooner or later. Adoption ranges fluctuate considerably throughout areas. Remittance customers in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and the UAE present the best openness to stablecoins, whereas curiosity within the UK is reasonable and Germany stays comparatively cautious. This pattern displays a gradual however uneven world shift towards broader acceptance of digital currencies.

Digital wallets are more and more changing into the popular fee methodology globally, significantly amongst youthful shoppers. In the USA, roughly one in 5 consumers favor digital wallets, with Gen Z displaying a robust inclination; their use of digital wallets almost matches that of bodily playing cards. Adoption patterns fluctuate considerably throughout areas. In Singapore and the UAE, digital wallets surpass playing cards and money when it comes to belief, safety, velocity, and comfort. Brazil demonstrates robust adoption pushed by accessibility, transaction velocity, and perceived safety in opposition to fraud. Germany continues to rely closely on money, contrasting with the UK, which leads different European markets in digital pockets use. Even in international locations with robust money traditions, shoppers anticipate a decline in money utilization over the following decade, reflecting a world shift towards digital funds.

Safety stays the dominant issue shaping fee selections worldwide, with almost eight in ten respondents contemplating it extraordinarily essential. Customers worth seamless transactions however stay cautious of more and more refined fraud schemes. Within the U.S., 66% of shoppers are involved that buddies or household may fall sufferer to on-line scams, and 82% report taking proactive measures similar to enabling two-factor authentication and updating passwords. Fraud publicity varies globally, with the best ranges reported in CEMEA and Latin American markets, whereas European international locations report comparatively decrease publicity.

Gen Z is rising as a key driver of change. Their near-equal desire for digital wallets and bodily playing cards displays a generational shift that’s more likely to affect fee adoption, technological innovation, and client expectations for years. This technology can also be normalizing digital gifting, together with cryptocurrencies, and buying presents from worldwide retailers, with 60 p.c making cross-border purchases this season. Gen Z’s affect extends to journey, as 41 p.c plan to journey extra in the course of the holidays in comparison with final 12 months, indicating elevated confidence and a concentrate on experiential spending.

Alisa, a devoted journalist on the MPost, makes a speciality of cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a eager eye for rising developments and applied sciences, she delivers complete protection to tell and interact readers within the ever-evolving panorama of digital finance.

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