Prepaid and stored value gives consumers the trust and control to try AI shopping agents

By Blackhawk Network VP Head of ANZ Kieran Nolan

For decades, retailers have focused on capturing human attention. Whether by click, scroll, or a carefully timed discount nudge, the goal has always been staying in front of potential customers. But a structural shift is underway as the way Australians shop is fundamentally changing, and it is imperative that marketers are ready.

Consumers are beginning to delegate the cognitive work of shopping, the research, the comparison of prices, the decision-making, to AI agents. For time-poor Australians already fatigued by choice overload, the ability to delegate is becoming an increasingly attractive function, and when convenience proves itself, adoption follows fast.

McKinsey’s 2026 survey on APAC Consumer Sentiment revealed that already 63% of Australians are using generative AI to compare purchase options, with 51% using AI to discover brands and products. While most Australians are still using AI earlier in the customer journey, a small number of tech-savvy users are venturing toward using AI to repurchase products, get post-purchase support, or checkout and pay on their behalf.

In Australia, we’re clearly seeing consumers take their first steps into the world of agentic commerce. But while they are comfortable to offload the research, comparison, and evaluation phases to AI, they still want to firmly retain control over the final purchase decision. Before consumers feel comfortable giving out their payment credentials to an agentic platform, they need to have greater trust in the system and may feel better using stored value first.

Trust in a changing market

Agentic commerce is, fundamentally, a faster version of the long-enduring consumer-brand relationship but mediated by an algorithm. The tech layer changes the trust equation entirely.

In markets like Germany, account-to-account transfers dominate, and consumers still favour payment methods that provide control and transparency. So, the idea of delegating a purchasing decision to an AI agent is not an immediate leap that all people will be willing to make easily. Entrusting an algorithm with both their financial details and their decision-making requires a different kind of reassurance altogether. Entrusting an algorithm with both their financial details and their decision-making requires a different kind of reassurance altogether.

While most Australian online shoppers are curious about agentic AI tools, their enthusiasm fades at checkout, where trust, security and control still matter most. Research from Commerce and PayPal revealed that while 63% of Australians are interested in trying out agentic AI shopping tools, only 4% were open to AI assistance during the checkout process.

Trust and control remain pivotal factors influencing the degree to which Australians adopt AI shopping tools. Consumers aren’t afraid of using AI; they just want to stay in control of what they buy, and this should guide how the future of agentic commerce is designed.

The method that already fits

Stored value could be the way in for consumers who are looking to experiment with agentic commerce, by helping them feel more comfortable relying on shopping agents to purchase on their behalf.

Prepaid and stored value, such as loyalty credits, prepaid balances, and gift cards, are the consumer-friendly on-ramp to agentic payment. Controlled, bounded, familiar - stored value can serve a "human in the loop” type function without requiring the human.

A gift card balance with a specific retailer is not just a gifting mechanism. In an agentic commerce environment, it is consent made explicit: the consumer has pre-defined the limit, and thus the agent operates within it confidently. The merchant knows the intent is genuine and therefore, properties that some have historically viewed as limitations of stored value turn out to be precisely what makes it the right tool for the earliest stages of agentic commerce adoption.

The infrastructure for agentic commerce is being built now. Visa and Mastercard have both announced agent payment frameworks and Google has launched its Agent Payments Protocol. ChatGPT introduced in-conversation purchasing in late 2025. The architecture of agentic commerce is being assembled today, and the businesses getting positioned within it are not waiting.

Blackhawk Network (BHN) is preparing for this shift towards agentic commerce by anticipating consumer needs. Agents need a payment mechanism that doesn't require real-time authorisation for every transaction. Ideally, consumers would prefer not to approve every small, recurring transaction made by their shopping agent.

This is where stored value becomes essential and gift cards provide pre-approved funds to enable shopping agents to spend autonomously within set limits, giving the consumers the trust and control they need to feel comfortable for AI agents to purchase on their behalf.

Stored and earned value is foundational infrastructure for agentic commerce but we must be at the forefront of helping to establish standards with the agents. This is imperative to build the trust of consumers and their further uptake of the rapidly expanding world of AI shopping.