Visa, BILL and Billtrust have launched a live pilot in which AI agents complete buyer-approved invoice payments through supplier portals from start to finish. The companies called it the first live pilot of its kind and said in a joint announcement that it is already processing end-to-end transactions between participating buyers on BILL and suppliers that use Billtrust.

The pilot goes after a familiar chore in accounts payable. Even after an invoice is approved, paying through a supplier portal often means an employee logs in and types in the payment details by hand. Many payment portals relied on human authentication requirements that limited how approved payments could be automated, according to the release. The companies' FAQ calls the portal step "one of the last major manual steps in many accounts payable workflows."

Abstract illustration of glowing digital invoices moving along a light path through a secure gateway between two office buildings.

How the Payment Flow Works

The process starts with the BILL Payment Agent, which is registered through Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol and Agentic Directory. The agent uses tokenized payment credentials, along with controls tied to the buyer's approved payment instructions, to make card payments on supplier invoices for BILL customers. On the supplier side, Billtrust uses the same protocol to recognize and authenticate the agent and give it access to finish the payment.

That authentication can satisfy the site protections that CAPTCHA and other bot-blocking tools have historically provided, without a separate agent login, the companies said. The pilot is designed to remove the need for buyers to share supplier-portal logins, and the agent does not decide what to pay. According to the FAQ, it "only executes eligible payments that have already been approved by the buyer."