OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Wallet, a wallet that lets AI agents complete purchases on your behalf over existing card networks. The announcement makes no mention of crypto or stablecoins - payments run through the bank cards you already hold.
How a purchase works
You add a card once. Before each purchase, you review the items, total and selected card, then approve with Face ID or a fingerprint scan, according to the OpenAI announcement.
After approval, the card network issues a payment token - a substitute card number, security code and expiration date. The merchant and the agent never see your actual card details.
- You keep your card's rewards and protections for eligible disputes, such as defective items
- Each approval creates a clear record of the purchase you authorized
- Merchants keep control over pricing, fulfillment, returns and the customer relationship
- Banks and payment networks evaluate the transactions
Who gets access
The rollout starts through dots, ChatGPT's agents, for ChatGPT Pro subscribers aged 18 and older in the US with eligible US-issued cards. OpenAI says 1.2B people use ChatGPT weekly, and the limited availability is meant to test compatibility with merchants, banks and payment networks.
Over time, OpenAI expects you to be able to delegate purchases fully to the agent, with parameters such as spending limits, purchase categories or time periods. Those pre-approved purchases will keep biometric checks and authorization records.
What merchants need to do
OpenAI published a Commerce Partner Playbook so websites do not accidentally block agents. The company warns that risk systems may flag legitimate agent purchases, leading to declines or cancellations.
- Claim the business in ChatGPT and upload a product feed with current pricing and availability
- Configure the CDN or firewall to recognize signed requests via Web Bot Auth
- Work with payment and risk providers to reduce unnecessary declines
- Build a plugin or add WebMCP tools so agents can check availability and manage carts
On fraud prevention, OpenAI is working with Forter, Riskified, Sardine and Signifyd. On processing, the partners are Adyen, Checkout.com and Stripe.
Market size
Juniper Research estimates agentic commerce spend will reach $1.5T in 2030, growing from pilot deployments in 2025 and 2026, according to an April report. Trust remains the number one barrier, and agentic commerce will not replace traditional checkouts for the foreseeable future, the study says.
In Juniper's leaderboard for agentic commerce payments infrastructure, which analyzed 14 providers, the top three spots went to Mastercard, Visa and Stripe - all three named in OpenAI's announcement.
