Mastercard Unveils New Trends in 'Smart Commerce': Nearly 60% of Consumers Ready to Let AI Be Their Shopping Agent

In the age of AI, consumers are increasingly accustomed to using AI tools for information searches, document processing, and making purchasing decisions. According to Mastercard's '2026 Taiwan Consumer AI Usage and Spending Habits Survey,' nearly 70% of people use AI assistants at least once a week, and almost 60% are prepared to entrust AI with the role of 'shopping concierge,' marking the dawn of the Agentic Commerce era. From price comparisons and consolidating discounts to booking travel itineraries, AI has become the ideal assistant for smarter spending, with 'security' and 'exclusive credit card rewards' emerging as two critical drivers of this new consumer era.

The survey reveals that nearly 70% of Taiwanese consumers use AI assistants weekly, with ChatGPT and Gemini being the most popular. Chen Yi-wen, Managing Director of Mastercard Taiwan, stated that AI-powered smart commerce is already happening—57% of respondents are willing to authorize agentive AI to automatically search for products based on their preferences and budgets, and complete purchases after user confirmation, aiming to enhance shopping efficiency and support smarter consumption.

Moreover, over 60% of respondents are willing to let AI plan and pay for their travel arrangements. Nearly half emphasized that they would only entrust payment decisions to AI if robust security measures—including biometric authentication, real-time transaction alerts, and encrypted mechanisms ensuring actual card numbers are never exposed—are fully in place, highlighting that while convenience is valued, security remains paramount.

Among AI users, daily consumables (65%) top the list of purchase categories they're willing to delegate to AI, followed by accommodation bookings (46%) and flight tickets (42%). Consumers tend to start with low-cost, repetitive purchases before extending to more complex ones like travel. Over 50% also want AI to proactively alert them to promotional periods.

The survey further shows that 75% of AI users expect their agents to automatically consolidate discount codes and offers to deliver the best deals, while 79% want real-time price comparisons across platforms to save time. Additionally, 61% are open to letting AI handle full travel planning—from comparing flight prices and booking hotels to reserving restaurants—offloading time-consuming, cross-platform tasks and enabling seamless payment and booking.

Nearly 30% of young users are willing to pay for AI subscriptions, while older adults use AI as health advisors.

Different age groups show distinct AI usage patterns. The 18–30 age group uses AI most frequently and is more willing to pay for higher usage limits and advanced model capabilities. Over 40% of young users engage with AI daily, and 27% subscribe to paid AI services—higher than the 31–50 age group (20%) and the 51–65 group (6%).

While the 31–50 demographic uses AI less frequently, they rely on it for shopping decisions at levels comparable to younger users—42% have used AI recommendations when shopping, and nearly 70% are willing to delegate daily essentials purchases to AI, making routine spending a gateway to AI-driven consumption. Meanwhile, older adults treat AI as a health advisor, with 26% of AI-using seniors consulting it for medical and wellness information.

The market for paid AI subscriptions has significant growth potential, with 71% considering AI-related rewards when choosing credit cards.

As AI assistant usage grows, more consumers are subscribing to paid AI tools and beginning to choose credit cards that offer related rewards. The survey found that 18% of respondents already pay for at least one AI subscription, with nearly half spending under NT$600 monthly and over 40% spending between NT$601 and NT$1,200. This indicates that current paying users primarily access basic services, showing strong potential for future expansion.

Notably, 71% of AI users said they would consider whether a credit card offers AI subscription rewards when selecting a new card, signaling that such benefits are evolving from niche incentives to mainstream decision factors in credit card adoption.