In recent years, digitization has been transforming commercial payments, turning slow, manual, often paper-bound processes into smarter, faster and more secure transactions. Now artificial intelligence is turning up the power of payments, using predictive analytics and AI’s ability to harness data from across a variety of sources to deliver more context, control and strategic decision-making across industries — from the shipping docks to doctors’ offices, from factory floors to flight paths and beyond.

Smarter controls and omnichannel solutions are quickly becoming the norm thanks to a growing range of AI-abetted solutions already available to business leaders. With this generational shift in commercial payments now at hand, we look at how AI is impacting several leading industries and what it will mean for business leaders in 2026.

Health care remains home to one of today’s most complex payment ecosystems, defined by fragmented data, manual processes and delayed reimbursements. AI is changing this dynamic for medical systems, hospitals, treatment providers and patients alike by bringing greater speed, accuracy, security and personalization to every stakeholder in the system. AI spending is climbing, for example, in coding and billing automation, which can recover revenue lost to coding errors and denials, according to a recent report.

Automated administrative tools help providers move faster by streamlining claims submission while also improving cash flow and reducing back-end office complexity. For patients, AI can offer customized treatments along with better insight into billing and personalized payment plans. The result is a more human (and humane) payment experience, powered by intelligent automation.

AI can supercharge enterprise resource planning systems by enabling companies to classify spending across multiple enterprise resource planning software (ERPs), forecast future spend by category, and identify savings opportunities with precision. Better yet, companies can glean these insights within a matter of moments rather than pouring weeks into manual analysis.

AI is also transforming how organizations find and evaluate suppliers. By pulling in data attributes from a wide range of sources, AI tools can identify potential vendors more rapidly and begin assessing risk across dimensions such as financial health, geography and performance history. By embedding payments into ERPs, supplier negotiation is no longer confined to static spreadsheets and long email threads either. In effect, businesses can use AI-powered tools to proactively negotiate new terms with buyers, outline payment options and model trade-offs in real time. And these benefits are already being realized — 88% of organizations plan to increase their AI investments in procurement over the next 12 months in pursuit of a strategic advantage, according to a recent benchmarking report. 

AI is redefining both travelers’ experiences and the detailed (sometimes convoluted) B2B payment flows that support the industry. For airlines, online travel agencies and other industry suppliers, AI is helping optimize operations at scale. Predictive maintenance reduces expenses and downtime. Route optimization improves speed and efficiency. Intelligent chatbots handle booking-related questions quickly and accurately. 

Behind the scenes, travel payments can move more fluidly between buyers and suppliers. Issuers can use AI-driven smart tools to detect overcharges or duplicate payments and optimize payment timing based on buyer and supplier preferences. That, combined with the dynamic spending controls, real-time fraud detection and automated reconciliation solutions provided by Mastercard’s virtual card technology, can reduce risk and manual effort - making B2B travel payments faster, safer and more transparent.

In the world of transportation and logistics, efficiency is everything. Across the industry, AI tools are helping to speed goods along, reduce costs and drive agility. Intermodal and shipping partners are also using smart tools to forecast demand cycles, manage inventory and capacity more effectively, and optimize transportation routes to drive time- and fuel-cost-savings. In fact, an April 2025 report shows that companies implementing AI in supply chain logistics experience a 5-10% reduction in transportation costs and a 20% improvement in delivery reliability. As these operational insights become more precise, payment strategies can align more closely with the actual movement of goods – supporting better cash flow, fewer disputes and more predictable outcomes. 

Come the new year, AI will be all but inseparable from commercial payments. Automated solutions will personalize health care billing, embed intelligence into procurement processes, simplify travel operations and optimize transportation networks. New finance tools will also shorten payment cycles, reduce friction and surface insights exactly when they’re needed. Most importantly, AI will continue to transform payments from a back-office function to a strategic capability: one that helps organizations grow, adapt and compete more effectively in a rapidly evolving world.