Crossmint enables AI agents to pay with Visa cards via new API
Quick Look
- Crossmint has launched an API allowing AI agents to make payments using existing Visa credit and debit cards, integrating with platforms like Claude Code and OpenClaw.
- This move, part of a trend towards agentic payments, enables AI to transact without direct human involvement or access to card numbers, while preserving user rewards.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Crossmint, a provider of stablecoin and wallet infrastructure, has launched an API that allows AI agents to make payments using existing Visa credit and debit cards. This service leverages Visa Intelligent Commerce and Basis Theory's payment infrastructure, enabling AI agents to transact within set spending limits without direct access to users' card numbers.
Crossmint, a stablecoin and wallet infrastructure provider, launched an API that enables AI agents to make payments using eligible Visa credit and debit cards, bringing physical card-based transactions to agent platforms.
According to Tuesday's announcement, the service uses Visa Intelligent Commerce and Basis Theory's payment infrastructure to allow AI agents to make purchases without access to users' card numbers while operating within predefined spending limits.
Crossmint said the payment capability is available through its lobster.cash tool, which can be connected to platforms including Claude Code, OpenClaw, Hermes and Zo Computer. Developers can immediately integrate the payment system through the company's API and documentation.
Crossmint co-founder Alfonso Gómez-Jordana told Cointelegraph the company's broader payments infrastructure supports both card and stablecoin transactions. Unlike some competing systems that rely on newly issued virtual cards, he said Crossmint tokenizes users' existing Visa cards, allowing customers to retain card rewards while authorizing spending by AI agents.
"Developers building payment capabilities into agents have had no standardized way to handle card credentials, so many have resorted to workarounds that expose raw card numbers directly to the agent environment," Gómez-Jordana said.
He said Crossmint is also working with Mastercard and American Express to expand support for agentic card payments beyond Visa.
Related: Liquid launches ChatGPT and Claude trading app with live market execution
Racing to build human-absent agentic payments
Crossmint's launch is part of a broader effort to give AI agents the ability to hold funds, access services and complete transactions without direct human involvement.
Crypto companies have been among the earliest movers. In February, Coinbase launched Agentic Wallets, allowing AI agents to hold, spend and trade cryptocurrency through the company's x402 payments protocol.
MoonPay followed in March with an open-source wallet framework designed to let AI agents manage crypto assets and transact across blockchain networks from a single wallet. In May, Circle launched a suite of tools that allows AI agents to hold wallets, discover services and make programmable payments using USDC.
Traditional payment companies have also entered the market. Visa introduced its Visa CLI agent payments tool in March before launching Intelligent Commerce Connect, infrastructure designed to allow AI agents to make purchases through tokenized payment credentials and spending controls.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire predicted earlier this year that billions of AI agents could eventually use stablecoins for payments, arguing that autonomous software would require its own financial infrastructure.
Source: Cointelegraph
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Crossmint will expand support for agentic card payments to Mastercard and American Express.
Very likely · Within months
Billions of AI agents will eventually use stablecoins for payments.
Possible · Within years
Open Questions
- What are the specific security measures in place to prevent fraud or misuse of AI agent payments?
- What is the exact timeline for support expansion to Mastercard and American Express?
- How will regulatory bodies respond to AI agents making financial transactions?
- What is the expected impact on traditional e-commerce payment flows?
