89% of Kenyans Now Use AI to Shop, But Only 29% Would Trust It to Pay, Visa Study Finds
AI
Published: 2026-06-12T17:03:47 · Updated: 2026-06-12T15:03:47Z
There's a fascinating contradiction sitting at the heart of how Kenyans are embracing artificial intelligence, and a new study from Visa has put the numbers to it.
According to Visa's Stay Secure 2026 study, a sweeping 89% of Kenyan consumers have used AI tools to help with shopping. But flip to the payment page, and confidence collapses — only 29% say they'd trust an AI agent to complete a purchase on their behalf.
About the Study
The Stay Secure report is Visa's annual deep dive into consumer behaviour and fraud exposure across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA). The 2026 edition was conducted by Wakefield Research between January and February 2026, surveying 5,800 adults across 17 markets — including Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and the UAE. This year's focus: how AI is reshaping the online shopping experience.
AI Is Now Part of How Kenyans Shop
The numbers make clear that AI has quietly become routine in the Kenyan shopping journey:
| Use Case | % of Kenyan AI Shoppers |
|---|---|
| Checking reviews or product ratings | 60% |
| Finding gift ideas | 55% |
| Comparing prices | 53% |
Beyond that, 91% of Kenyans say new technologies — including AI-powered tools — have made online shopping faster and easier. And 61% say they typically discover new brands or retailers while shopping online, which means the recommendation engines deciding what surfaces first now carry serious commercial weight.
The Checkout Trust Gap
This is where the story gets interesting.
The payments industry is racing toward what it calls agentic commerce — AI agents that don't just suggest products but complete the entire purchase for you. Fill in payment details, confirm the order, done. Visa has built a product line around exactly this idea. Its Visa Intelligent Commerce platform gives AI agents tokenised payment credentials and spending controls to buy things on a consumer's behalf.
Kenyan consumers aren't there yet.
At just 29%, trust in AI-handled checkouts is low — even among a population that has clearly embraced AI everywhere else in the shopping journey. People are happy to let AI do the research. Handing over the actual payment is a line most aren't willing to cross.
That hesitation isn't anti-AI sentiment though. 82% of Kenyans believe AI will play a critical role in protecting consumers from fraud in the future, and 44% say AI has already made scams easier to spot. The picture is of a consumer who sees AI as both a convenience and a future safety net — they just want to keep their finger on the pay button for now.
Social Commerce Is Booming — And So Are the Scams
The study also puts hard numbers on something anyone selling on Instagram or TikTok already suspects: social commerce is fully mainstream in Kenya, with 85% of consumers having purchased products directly through social media platforms.
The dark side? Fraud has followed shoppers there.
- 📊 37% of Kenyan consumers experienced a financial scam in the past 12 months
- 📱 Of those, 58% say it happened on social media — more than on websites, online marketplaces, or shopping apps
The places where Kenyans are shopping most are also where they're most likely to get burned.
The Takeaway
Kenya's relationship with AI in commerce is nuanced. Adoption is high, enthusiasm is real, and optimism about AI's protective potential is strong. But when it comes to autonomous payments, consumers are drawing a clear line.
For fintechs and payment giants racing to build the agentic commerce future, Kenya's numbers are a signal worth heeding: the infrastructure might be ready, but consumer trust still needs to catch up.