Secret Sant-AI: Visa Research Reveals 41% of Americans Hide AI Use for Holiday Shopping

American consumers are increasingly delegating holiday shopping tasks to artificial intelligence, with more than half of U.S. adults now using the technology to hunt for deals and compare prices. However, new research from Visa reveals a significant trust gap remains between using AI for gift discovery and trusting it to handle the final payment transaction.

What was announced

The findings from Visa’s 2026 Holiday Spending Shift Survey, conducted by Morning Consult among more than 1,000 U.S. adults, indicate that 54% of consumers have used AI for at least one shopping task, an increase from 47% last year. While the technology is gaining traction, it remains a "Secret Sant-AI" for many; 41% of respondents admitted they would not tell a recipient that AI helped choose their gift. Shoppers are currently most comfortable using AI for practical, research-heavy tasks: 61% use it to compare prices, 59% to check product availability, 57% to find discounts, and 54% to suggest gift ideas.

The survey highlights a demographic divide, with Gen Z leading the adoption. More than 80% of young consumers are open to AI assistance, and 73% would allow it to suggest gift ideas—19 points higher than the general adult population. Despite this enthusiasm for discovery, only 23% of U.S. consumers trust generative AI to handle payment transactions on their behalf. Trust increases significantly when established financial brands are involved; 61% of consumers trust Visa to secure an AI-powered payment, a figure that rises to 71% among frequent AI users. Beyond technology, the data shows 84% of consumers are taking steps to manage higher costs, while 30% expect to purchase at least one gift from an overseas seller this season.

The companies involved

Visa is a global leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. As a central pillar of the global financial infrastructure, the company has evolved from a traditional credit card network into a multi-rail platform that handles everything from debit and prepaid products to sophisticated cross-border B2B payments. FF News has tracked the company’s development extensively, with 739 stories documenting its shift toward integrated digital commerce and emerging technologies.

The company’s current market position is defined by its efforts to bridge the gap between traditional fiat currency and the next generation of commerce, including AI-driven "agentic" shopping and digital assets. By leveraging its brand trust, Visa is attempting to position itself as the security layer for new payment methods that consumers might otherwise view with skepticism. This strategy is particularly relevant as the industry moves toward more automated, background-level transaction processing where the consumer is less involved in the manual checkout process.

What FF News has reported before

Visa has been aggressively piloting AI and digital identity solutions throughout late 2026. In October, the company collaborated with partners in the B2B space, as seen when Visa, BILL and Billtrust Launch First Live Pilot for Trusted AI Agent B2B Payments. This focus on frictionless transactions was also evident when Checkout.com Launches Visa Payment Passkey to Eliminate Checkout Friction, a move designed to replace traditional passwords with biometric security. Additionally, the network has expanded its reach into the digital asset space, recently seeing Visa and Mesh Partner to Enable Crypto Payments at 175 Million Merchants Globally. On the consumer banking side, the company continues to enhance transaction transparency, as demonstrated when SpareBank 1 Enhances Digital Banking App with Snowdrop Solutions and Visa.

What this means

The industry is entering the era of "agentic commerce," where the primary user interface for a transaction is an AI assistant rather than a storefront. The massive gap between AI-driven discovery (54%) and AI-driven payment (23%) represents the most significant hurdle for fintech providers today. While consumers are happy to let algorithms do the legwork of price comparison, they remain protective of the "buy" button. This creates a massive opportunity for established payment networks to act as the "trust layer." For the wider sector, the rise in cross-border shopping and stablecoin interest among Gen Z suggests that traditional domestic retail boundaries are becoming increasingly irrelevant to the next generation of spenders.