Crossmint launches Visa-powered card payments API for AI agents

Crossmint rolled out a public agentic card payments API built on Visa Intelligent Commerce and Basis Theory, giving developers a way to let eligible US-issued Visa credit and debit cardholders use their cards inside AI agent systems.

The launch targets a gap in agentic commerce. As AI agents spread through consumer and business products, developers have lacked a widely adopted payment method that works with existing card networks while keeping security controls intact. Crossmint said that without those rails, some builders have leaned on improvised payment flows — the kind that can leak credentials or invite misuse.

The API lets end users tap Visa Intelligent Commerce Connect to mint tokenized credentials linked to their existing Visa cards. Agents can then charge those tokens without ever seeing the underlying card number or CVC, and spending limits keep the agents on a short leash.

Crossmint said the system protects card details through tokenization and vaulting, with payment data handled under applicable PCI compliance requirements.

Basis Theory sits in as the credential layer, vaulting real card numbers, CVCs, and tokenized credentials outside the agent environment so agents only receive the scoped permissions a transaction actually needs.

The product is already live inside lobster.cash, Crossmint's payment solution for AI agents. Lobster.cash installs as a tool in agent platforms including Claude Code, OpenClaw, Hermes, and Zo Computer, giving agents a way to pay for goods and services through controlled access.

Crossmint co-founder Alfonso Gómez Jordana Mañas said agentic commerce has been missing a secure, open payment layer that works across platforms. Visa Growth Products and Partnerships VP Tanner Riche said secure authorization and user control will be critical as consumers start handing tasks off to AI agents.

The launch lands amid a broader push to build payment infrastructure for AI agents as developers ready for software that can transact globally and at scale. Crossmint, Visa, and Basis Theory are pitching the API as a way to bring card-based payments into agentic commerce without handing raw payment details to autonomous systems.