FIS bets transaction intelligence will power AI‑driven payment agents
FIS senior director Mike Magennis said transaction intelligence is his first pick for a 2027 AI‑payments roster, speaking in the September edition of PYMNTS’ What’s Next in Payments. He said AI agents could eventually choose payment methods by weighing rewards, eligibility and risk, but for now he would keep unrestricted autonomous purchasing on the bench.
Transaction intelligence would combine purchase data, available value and timing so an agent can pick the payment method that delivers the best outcome for a consumer. FIS is already investing in transaction‑level offers and item intelligence, which can identify where a shopper is buying and present promotions in real time. The company continues to develop Smart Basket, a tool launched earlier this year that bundles item‑level data with offer activation to reduce friction for consumers and merchants. Magennis noted that today’s offers often fail because they arrive at the wrong time, require too many steps or cannot be linked to actual changes in buying behavior.
“As an AI agent begins to assist with purchasing decisions, the payment ecosystem has to make that value chain machine readable,” Mike Magennis, senior director of Strategy, Networks at FIS said.
“The problem today is not a lack of offers,” Mike Magennis, senior director of Strategy, Networks at FIS said.
Before turning to AI agents, Magennis highlighted that current offers often miss their mark because they are poorly timed or overly complex, limiting their impact on purchasing behavior. He noted that FIS has already deployed Smart Basket to deliver real‑time, transaction‑level offers that aim to close that gap.
What we know
Mike Magennis, senior director of Strategy, Networks at FIS, said he already knows what he would take first in a payments and artificial intelligence draft: transaction intelligence.
Magennis spoke with PYMNTS for the September edition of What’s Next in Payments.
“The Fall Draft: Who Makes the Starting Lineup for Payments and AI?” uses the return of football season to ask payments executives to assemble a 2027 roster.
FIS deployed Smart Basket earlier this year and continues to invest in it, Magennis said.
FIS is investing in transaction-level offers and item intelligence, Magennis said.