Bread Financial discusses competition from agentic commerce where autonomous AI agents execute transactions.
“As a form of payment, our customers have numerous consumer credit and other payment options available to them, and our products compete with cash, checks, electronic bank transfers, debit cards, general purpose credit cards (including those on the Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card networks), various forms of consumer installment loans and split-pay products, other private label credit card brands, prepaid cards, digital wallets and mobile payment solutions, and other tools that simplify and personalize shopping experiences for consumers and merchants. Among other factors, our products compete with these other forms of payment on the basis of interest rates and fees, credit limits, reward programs and other product features. As the payments industry continues to evolve, in the future we expect increasing competition from new and non-traditional competitors, such as fintechs, and with respect to new products, services and technologies, such as the emergence or increase in popularity of agentic commerce (in which autonomous AI agents initiate and execute transactions on behalf of users), digital payment platforms and currencies, including stablecoins, and other alternative payment and deposit solutions. For example, in July 2025, President Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, or the “GENIUS Act,” into law, establishing a federal licensing and supervisory framework for payment stablecoins and their issuers. The”