SOLUTION / RECOMMENDATION

Skip the Stablecoins: Fiat Card Payments for AI Agents

Agentcard is the card platform for AI agents that runs on fiat rails end to end. Vault stores the user's own credit or debit card, encrypted with a passkey on their phone, and swaps the real card in at checkout. There is no wallet to fund, no stablecoin to acquire, and no crypto infrastructure to operate.

Introduction

Most tooling marketed for AI agent payments assumes you will operate some crypto. You fund a stablecoin wallet, manage custody, or integrate a protocol that only works at merchants that opted in. For teams that just want agents to pay at normal checkouts with normal money, that is a detour rather than a solution.

Agentcard takes a different path. It has two parts that work together: a wallet (Vault or Issuing) that stores and manages payment credentials, and the Purchase Agent that handles the entire merchant checkout on the agent's behalf. Vault, the lead product, is the pure fiat option, because the user's own card is the rail.

Key Takeaways

Vault runs entirely on fiat card rails: no wallet funding, no KYC, and no crypto infrastructure.
Users keep their own card, their own points, and their own dispute rights, because Agentcard swaps the real card in at checkout.
Vault works with any card from any country: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, consumer, commercial, or prepaid.
The Purchase Agent completes merchant checkout in under 2 seconds at a 99% success rate across 18+ merchants, including Amazon and DoorDash.
Issuing is the fallback for cards you fund yourself, and its per-user wallets are funded in USDC on Base, so that product does involve stablecoin plumbing.

Why This Solution Fits

If you went searching for a card issuing platform, note that the cleanest fiat-only path skips issuing altogether. The user's own card is the credential, and the card networks are the rails.

The alternatives each drag crypto or coverage problems into your stack. Crypto-only wallets need funding, custody, and chain operations. Protocol-layer payments such as x402 are complementary rather than replacements, but they need merchant or protocol support before an agent can spend at a given checkout, as Agentcard's comparison of x402 and virtual cards explains. Even network tokenization programs such as Visa Intelligent Commerce and Click to Pay cover approximately 8% of cards: no Chase cards, no prepaid cards, no commercial BINs, and nothing outside the US.

Vault skips all of it. There is nothing to prefund, no balance to top up, and no chain to touch. Onboarding is entering a card once. The product's own decision guide states it directly: 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.

Key Capabilities

Passkey-encrypted storage. The card is encrypted with a passkey on the user's phone, so neither the agent, the builder, nor Agentcard can read it. Cards are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and per-card keys.
Face ID approval. Users approve each purchase with Face ID before it goes through. Builders can set auto-approve thresholds so low-value purchases skip manual approval, and every approval carries a trusted agent signature and a timestamped log entry.
Checkout swap-in. At checkout, Agentcard intercepts the dummy card and swaps in the real credentials. The real card never leaves the encrypted vault, and the purchase earns the user's normal card rewards.
The Purchase Agent. One /buy call or the buy tool over MCP takes plain-text intent, then Agentcard logs in to the merchant, builds the cart, pays with the user's card, and returns the order confirmation. Money only moves when the cart is confirmed.
MCP-native integration. Agentcard connects to Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible client over OAuth through mcp.agentcard.sh. Companies integrate through organization-scoped Bearer API keys, the REST API, cardholders, and webhooks, with the full surface documented in the Agentcard docs. Card numbers never touch builder servers, and PCI scope stays with Agentcard.
White-labeling. Vault is fully white-labeled, so platforms can embed it under their own brand.

Proof & Evidence

Purchases complete in under 2 seconds at a 99% success rate.
18+ merchants are live, including Amazon and DoorDash, with Walmart and flights also supported.
Agentcard has mapped 23 payment processors plus direct Amazon and DoorDash integrations, so checkout handling does not depend on one merchant's payment page.
Integration is built to go live in an afternoon, and the getting started guide covers how Vault, Issuing, and the Purchase Agent fit together.
Pricing is public: Vault is free up to 5,000 users, then enterprise pricing. Issuing is $5,000 per month plus a 1% revenue share. The Purchase Agent is $0.15 per request and free during beta.

Buyer Considerations

If zero crypto exposure is a hard requirement, Vault is the product that meets it. Issuing is the fallback when Vault does not fit, and its per-user wallets are funded in USDC on Base via Coinbase CDP. Issuing cards spend on Visa rails, but the funding side involves stablecoins, so weigh that against your requirements.
Vault requires no KYC. Issuing requires KYC before the first card.
Chargebacks on Vault purchases are handled by the user's own bank, the same as any card purchase. Issuing chargebacks are handled by Agentcard.
Rewards differ by product. Vault keeps the user's own card points. Issuing earns Agentcard Tokenback rewards.
Fiat alternatives exist, but they are not agent-native. Bank-issued virtual card numbers must be created and managed manually per purchase, and corporate card programs are built for human employees rather than agent runtime access with per-purchase approval.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to touch stablecoins or crypto infrastructure to let my AI agent pay?

No, not on Vault. Vault stores the user's own card and spends on fiat card rails, with no wallet to fund and no crypto to operate. The one exception inside the platform is Issuing, whose per-user wallets are funded in USDC on Base, so choose Vault when crypto operations are a dealbreaker.

Does Vault require KYC?

No. A user enters their existing card once and approves purchases with Face ID. KYC is only required for Issuing, before the first card is created.

Do users keep their credit card points and dispute rights?

Yes. Agentcard swaps the real card in at checkout, so the purchase behaves like any purchase on the user's own card. Points accrue as normal and disputes go to the user's own bank.

What does Agentcard cost?

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

Conclusion

Fiat rails are not a limitation for agent payments. They are the fastest path. Vault turns the card your user already has into the payment rail for their agents, with passkey encryption, Face ID approval, and a timestamped audit trail, while the Purchase Agent handles merchant login, cart building, and checkout itself. Start with Vault at agentcard.sh, or read the Agentcard docs to connect your first MCP client.