Alchemy and Visa launch AgentCard: AI agents get their own payment tools
We are witnessing a historic shift in the economy: the Alchemy platform, in partnership with Visa, has launched the AgentCard service, which endows artificial intelligence with its own payment credentials. This is not just another integration — it is a fundamental change in how neural networks interact with the real world.
The essence of the solution is simple but revolutionary: AI agents operating on OpenAI or Anthropic models can now make online purchases fully autonomously. The system provides each agent with a complete set of digital data: a virtual Visa card, an email address, a phone number, and a cryptocurrency wallet. Thanks to a unified API, developers can configure payment access in less than a minute.
Imagine a scenario: your AI agent books flights, orders groceries, or renews subscriptions — all without your involvement. AgentCard automatically selects the optimal payment method: if the seller accepts fiat, the transaction goes through Visa tokens while preserving banking bonuses and credit lines. If the merchant supports digital assets, the crypto wallet is used.
Security is not sacrificed for convenience. The system supports spending limits, restrictions by store categories, and customizable budgets. As Alchemy CEO Nikil Viswanathan rightly noted: "Every shift in technology has created new economic participants. AI agents are the next stage — they need access to the global economy."
This step logically continues the trend set by MetaMask and Coinbase, which previously announced wallets and services for autonomous AI. However, it is the partnership with Visa that gives the project institutional weight and scalability unavailable to crypto-native solutions.
My analysis: We stand on the threshold of an era where AI agents will become full-fledged participants in the global economy. AgentCard is the first brick in a foundation where neural networks not only advise but act. However, the key question remains: are regulators and traditional finance ready for thousands of autonomous "digital wallets" with the right to spend real money? In the next two years, we will see either explosive growth or strict restrictions from central banks.