AI Agents Gain Visa Card Payment Capabilities Through New Crossmint Integration
Payment infrastructure provider Crossmint has introduced a Visa-enabled API allowing AI agents to conduct card-based transactions, joining an expanding field of companies developing financial tools for autonomous software systems.
A new API from Crossmint, a company specializing in stablecoin and wallet infrastructure solutions, now enables artificial intelligence agents to conduct transactions using compatible Visa credit and debit cards, introducing physical card payment functionality to agent-based platforms.
The service, announced on Tuesday, leverages Visa Intelligent Commerce alongside Basis Theory's payment infrastructure to facilitate AI agent purchases while keeping users' actual card numbers concealed and ensuring operations remain within established spending parameters.
The payment functionality is accessible through Crossmint's lobster.cash tool, according to the company, which can be integrated with various platforms such as Claude Code, OpenClaw, Hermes and Zo Computer. The payment system is available for immediate integration by developers via the company's API and accompanying documentation.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Crossmint co-founder Alfonso Gómez-Jordana explained that the company's comprehensive payments infrastructure accommodates both card-based and stablecoin transactions. He noted that unlike certain competing solutions that depend on freshly generated virtual cards, Crossmint tokenizes users' current Visa cards, enabling customers to maintain their card rewards programs while permitting AI agents to execute authorized spending.
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.
Alfonso Gómez-Jordana, Crossmint co-founder
Gómez-Jordana revealed that Crossmint is currently collaborating with Mastercard and American Express to broaden agentic card payment support beyond the Visa network.
Racing to build human-absent agentic payments
The launch from Crossmint represents part of a wider industry push to equip AI agents with capabilities to manage funds, utilize services and execute transactions independently of direct human oversight.
Cryptocurrency-focused companies have positioned themselves among the first entrants in this space. Coinbase introduced Agentic Wallets in February, enabling AI agents to retain, spend and exchange cryptocurrency via the company's x402 payments protocol.
In March, MoonPay released an open-source wallet framework engineered to enable AI agents to control crypto assets and conduct transactions across blockchain networks using a unified wallet. Circle followed suit in May by unveiling a collection of tools that enables AI agents to maintain wallets, identify services and execute programmable payments utilizing USDC.
Established payment companies have similarly made their entrance into this emerging market. Visa unveiled its Visa CLI agent payments tool in March prior to introducing Intelligent Commerce Connect, an infrastructure solution engineered to enable AI agents to execute purchases via tokenized payment credentials paired with spending oversight mechanisms.
Earlier this year, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire forecasted that billions of AI agents might ultimately leverage stablecoins for payment transactions, maintaining that autonomous software systems would necessitate dedicated financial infrastructure.
