According to Business Insider, Visa is launching AI-powered financial tools for content creators through a partnership with fintech startup Karat Financial, scheduled to debut in 2026. The program will initially be free for Karat’s clients and includes automated invoice follow-ups with vendors and an AI agent to evaluate brand deal offers. This move builds on Visa’s 2024 classification of creators as small businesses and comes alongside research showing creators expect revenue growth, with WPP forecasting creators will earn $185 billion in 2025, up 20% from 2024. The initiative is specifically targeted at full-time creators who are making money but aren’t yet famous, with success measured by tool usage and cash flow improvement.
The real payment problem
Here’s the thing – this isn’t just about convenience. The creator payment situation is genuinely broken. Kyle Hjelmeseth from G&B Digital Management says brands that promise 30-day payments routinely take 60 to 120 days. That’s months of waiting for money you’ve already earned. Imagine trying to pay rent or plan your business when clients treat your invoices like optional suggestions.
And get this – Hjelmeseth has been sending invoices for creators for ten years. He says payment behavior hasn’t improved at all. When nearly half of creators are self-taught in business matters, they’re completely unprepared for this kind of financial chaos. They’re creating content, building audiences, and then getting treated like their time doesn’t matter.
Why a payment giant cares
So why is Visa, a company that processes billions in transactions, bothering with individual creators? Look at the numbers. WPP’s forecast of $185 billion in creator earnings for 2025 represents serious money moving through payment systems. Jonathan Kolozsvary from Visa admits the “composition of the pie is changing” – meaning creators are becoming a legitimate business segment that can’t be ignored.
Visa’s research with TikTok and Morning Consult found 88% of creators expect revenue growth. That’s an incredibly optimistic group that’s increasingly viewing content creation as a career. But they need help – about a quarter want assistance with contract negotiation, business strategy, and financial management. Basically, they’re great at creating content but terrible at running the business side.
Everyone wants creator business
Visa isn’t alone in this push. Mastercard launched its Business Builder products for creators back in February, offering tools to reduce personal liability and simplify business management. The financial industry is waking up to the fact that creators represent a massive, underserved market of small business owners.
What’s interesting is how Visa is positioning this. They’re not going after the Khaby Lames of the world – they explicitly say they’re targeting creators who are making money but aren’t famous yet. That’s where the real pain points exist. The mega-creators have teams handling this stuff. It’s the mid-tier professionals who are drowning in administrative work while trying to create.
Will this actually solve anything?
The automated invoice follow-ups sound useful, but here’s my question: will AI reminders actually make brands pay faster? Or will creators just get automated rejections instead of manual ones? The AI brand deal evaluation tool could be genuinely valuable though – many creators struggle to assess whether an offer is fair or predatory.
Kolozsvary makes a good point about the tax implications too. When creators “turn that passion to profit, they don’t know what tax implications look like now that they’re a business.” That transition from consumer to business owner is where many creators stumble. If Visa’s tools can smooth that path, they might actually make a difference beyond just processing payments.
