Future of payments: stablecoins to AI agents

Stablecoins are now bypassing banks, AI agents are making purchases and global payments are accelerating rapidly. Jamie Zegleman discusses the technologies reshaping the payments landscape, cross‑border flows, and everyday commerce.Stablecoins are scaling fast, with over $250bn in circulation and trillions in annual transaction volume — driven by speed, cost efficiency, and growing adoption across crypto trading and international money transfers.Agentic commerce is becoming real, as AI agents begin to transact autonomously —booking travel, making purchases, and navigating payment networks with minimal human input.Payment giants are evolving, with Mastercard and Visa integrating stablecoin and AI agent capabilities to remain central to digital transactions and cross-border flows.European fintech firms are leading innovation, with the likes of Wise, Adyen, Revolut and Monzo solving complex infrastructure challenges and setting new standards in digital finance.Listen to the podcast to learn more.Resources-          Do stablecoins spell danger for Visa and Mastercard? (article) Stablecoins are growing in popularity, but Investment Manager Jamie Zegleman thinks they are unlikely to dislodge the global payments duopoly of Visa and Mastercard.The podcast is intended for investment professionals only and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation. Any stock examples discussed are given in the context of the theme being explored, and the views expressed are those of the presenters at the time of the recording.