January 14, 2026
Today's Briefing: January 14th 2026
NewsAgents Take
The reintroduction of the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) is not an agentic commerce story on its face, but it has direct implications for how agentic payment flows must be designed. Analysis has consistently shown that network choice and routing flexibility can be worth tens of basis points to merchants at scale - with payments consultancy firm CMSPI assessing the value of the CCCA specifically at $17 billion per year for merchants. If agentic protocols abstract away card and network detail in the name of simplicity, merchants risk losing access to that value, repeating the same structural mistakes seen in some digital wallet implementations. At the same time, broader discussions around agentic discovery, optimisation, and AI adoption continue to shape expectations for how much control merchants retain as intelligence moves upstream.
Credit Card Competition Act and routing implications
The reintroduced Credit Card Competition Act aims to mandate network choice on credit cards, extending routing competition beyond debit. Analysis from payments consulting firm CMSPI has previously estimated that effective network competition on credit transactions could be worth approximately 10 to 20 basis points of card spend for large merchants, translating into billions of dollars annually at a market level.
The relevance for agentic commerce is subtle but important. If agentic checkout flows or protocols fail to surface all available networks on a customer’s card, merchants may be structurally unable to benefit from routing choice even if regulation enables it. This mirrors historical challenges seen with some digital wallets, where network abstraction limited merchant routing despite underlying card capabilities.
For agentic commerce to deliver economic benefit alongside convenience, network visibility and routing hygiene must be treated as first-order requirements rather than optional features.
Agentic commerce and generative engine optimisation
This Fortune piece looks at the emerging concept of generative engine optimisation and its reliability in an agentic world. While focused on discovery rather than payments, the connection is clear. As agents increasingly decide what is shown, recommended, or executed, optimisation shifts away from traditional levers and toward how agents interpret relevance and trust.
For merchants, this reinforces a recurring concern. As intelligence intermediates the customer journey, control over positioning, pricing, and presentation becomes less deterministic and more dependent on opaque agent logic.
Agentic AI expectations for business leaders
This Forbes piece offers a broad set of predictions for how agentic AI will shape business in 2026. The emphasis is on delegation, automation, and decision support becoming embedded across workflows.
For commerce and payments teams, the takeaway is not novelty but readiness. As more decisions are delegated to systems, accountability shifts toward how those systems are governed, monitored, and constrained. This applies as much to payment routing and risk decisions as it does to pricing or fulfilment.
Podcast on AI and the future
For those interested in a broader discussion on what AI means for the future of work, decision-making, and society, this conversation provides useful context. While not commerce-specific, it helps frame why agentic systems are increasingly trusted with higher-stakes decisions and why the consequences of poor design are magnified.
Youtuber and philosopher Alex O'Connor interviews Nick Bostrom, author of many books on the topic of AI including Superintelligence (2014) and Deep Utopia (2024).
