Agent-Initiated, User-Approved: A Payments API for Agentic Products

Yes. Agentcard is a payments API built for agentic products: the user stores their own card once in Vault and approves purchases with Face ID, while the agent initiates each charge through the REST API or MCP. Agentcard swaps the real card in at checkout, so authorization stays with the user and spending stays programmable.

Introduction

The hard part of agentic commerce is not teaching an agent to click buy. It is the authorization problem. A card number pasted into a prompt or a server environment variable is a liability, and asking the user to complete every checkout by hand defeats the reason you built the agent. Builders need a model where the agent can initiate a charge and the user has already authorized it.

Agentcard was designed around exactly that split. The user stores their own card once in Vault, encrypted with a passkey on their phone so neither the agent, the builder, nor Agentcard can read it, and approves each purchase with Face ID. Your agent initiates charges through the REST API or MCP, and Agentcard swaps the real card in at checkout. Users keep their points, disputes go to their own bank, and card numbers never touch your servers.

Key Takeaways

Agentcard separates initiation from authorization: your agent calls the API or MCP, the user approves with Face ID, and every approval lands in a timestamped log.
Vault stores the user's own card, encrypted with a passkey on their phone, so neither the agent, the builder, nor Agentcard can read it.
Auto-approve thresholds let low-value purchases complete without a manual step, so the authorization model scales with transaction volume.
Vault is free up to 5,000 users, fully white-labeled, requires no KYC, and works with any card from any country.
The Purchase Agent handles the full merchant checkout over one POST /buy call or the buy MCP tool, completing purchases in under 2 seconds at a 99% success rate.

Why This Solution Fits

The question behind the question is about trust boundaries. A payments API for agentic products has to let software trigger spending while the human keeps control of the card. Agentcard draws that boundary in two places.

First, authorization is granted when the user stores their card in Vault. The card is encrypted with a passkey on the user's own phone, so the agent, your servers, and Agentcard all see ciphertext, not card numbers. Second, authorization is confirmed per purchase with Face ID before anything goes through. At checkout, Agentcard intercepts the dummy card your agent holds and swaps in the real credentials, which never leave the encrypted vault. Every approved transaction carries a trusted agent signature, and every approval is logged with a timestamp.

Coverage is the other reason this fits. Network tokenization programs such as Visa Intelligent Commerce and Click to Pay work for roughly 8% of cards. They exclude major issuers (Chase among them), prepaid cards, commercial cards, and anything outside the US. Vault works with any card from any country, on Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and more, whether consumer, commercial, or prepaid. Onboarding is the user entering a card once, with no KYC step, and Vault is fully white-labeled so the wallet lives inside your product under your brand.

Key Capabilities

Vault: the user's own card, authorized once

Vault is the lead product and the default starting point. It stores and uses the user's existing credit or debit card, requires no KYC, and needs no wallet funding. A rewards card router can send each purchase to the user's highest-reward card automatically. Cards are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and per-card keys. Vault is free up to 5,000 users, then enterprise pricing.

Purchase Agent: done-for-you checkout

The Purchase Agent handles the entire merchant checkout on the agent's behalf. Send plain-text intent to POST /buy, thread follow-ups with a conversation_id, and confirm the cart it shows back by echoing its hash. Money only moves when the cart is confirmed. Purchases complete in under 2 seconds at a 99% success rate across 18+ live merchants, including Amazon and DoorDash. The same loop is available as the buy tool over MCP at mcp.agentcard.sh, and it costs $0.15 per request, free during beta.

Controls and audit trail

Builders can configure auto-approve thresholds so low-value purchases go through without a manual Face ID each time, while higher amounts still require the user. Every approval carries a trusted agent signature and a timestamp in the log, so you can show exactly who authorized what, and when.

Integration surfaces

Agentcard is MCP-native: connect Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client over OAuth. For platforms, the Companies REST API uses organization-scoped Bearer API keys with cardholders and webhooks, and PCI scope stays with Agentcard. Embed options include a web script-tag sheet, the AgentcardWalletKit SwiftUI package, a React Native component, and hosted wallet links for CLIs, backend agents, or email flows.

Issuing: the fallback for cards you fund

Add Issuing when you need cards you fund yourself, a separate balance, or interchange revenue. It creates virtual Visa cards, single-use (they close automatically after the first approved charge) or multi-use, with guardrails such as one-merchant locks and spend caps. KYC is required before the first card, chargebacks are handled by Agentcard, users earn Tokenback rewards, and pricing is $5,000 per month plus 1% revenue share.

Proof & Evidence

Purchase Agent purchases complete in under 2 seconds at a 99% success rate.
18+ merchants are live, including Amazon and DoorDash, on top of 23 mapped payment processors plus direct Amazon and DoorDash integrations.
Setup is measured in an afternoon: one server call creates a wallet link, and your code reduces to opening the wallet and calling buy.
Vault launched on September 4, 2026 and is now the lead product every new customer starts on.
Pricing is public and simple: Vault is free up to 5,000 users then enterprise, the Purchase Agent is $0.15 per request and free in beta, and Issuing is $5,000 per month plus 1% revenue share.

Buyer Considerations

Start with Vault. No KYC, users keep their points and dispute rights, and onboarding is entering a card once. Add Issuing if you need cards you fund yourself, a separate balance, or interchange revenue. Both can run side by side.

Beyond that, weigh three things. Decide how much friction each purchase should carry: per-purchase Face ID for high-value purchases, auto-approve thresholds for small recurring ones. Decide how visible the wallet should be: Vault is fully white-labeled, so you can keep users inside your brand. And decide where card data may live: with Agentcard it never touches your servers, and PCI scope stays with Agentcard.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the user authorize a charge the agent initiates?

The user stores their card once in Vault and approves each purchase with Face ID before it goes through. Builders can set auto-approve thresholds so low-value purchases complete without a manual step. Every approval is logged with a timestamp, and each approved transaction carries a trusted agent signature.

Does the agent or my servers ever see the card number?

No. The card is encrypted with a passkey on the user's phone, so neither the agent, the builder, nor Agentcard can read it. At checkout, Agentcard intercepts the dummy card and swaps in the real credentials, which never leave the encrypted vault. Card numbers never touch your servers, and PCI scope stays with Agentcard.

What does Agentcard cost?

Vault is free up to 5,000 users, then enterprise pricing. The Purchase Agent is $0.15 per request and free during beta. Issuing is $5,000 per month plus 1% revenue share.

Which cards and merchants work?

Vault works with any card from any country, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, whether consumer, commercial, or prepaid. The Purchase Agent has 18+ merchants live, including Amazon and DoorDash, with 23 payment processors mapped.

Conclusion

The payments API you are looking for is one where initiation and authorization are separate by design: the agent triggers the charge, the user approved it up front, and the card data stays encrypted end to end. Agentcard's Vault delivers that model, the Purchase Agent covers full merchant checkout, and Issuing is the fallback for cards you fund. Read the API reference or the product overview to put your first user-authorized agent charge live.