Stripe's Link wallet powers AI agent shopping for Meta's Muse, Instinct
Link issues one-time virtual cards capped at user-authorized amounts, and Meta's Muse now has 10 million users, over a quarter of whom shop in-app.
Stripe is expanding into AI agent-based shopping payments through its digital wallet Link, which Meta's personal AI agents Muse and Instinct use as a payment method, according to digitaltoday.co.kr. The move puts Stripe in competition with card networks Visa and Mastercard.
Link issues a one-time virtual card for agent payments, capped at an amount the user authorizes; the agent never sees the real card number. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than a quarter of Muse's 10 million users shop via the app, with an average transaction over 200 dollars, and Meta raised Muse payment limits in consultation with Stripe.
In September, according to Decoder, Link's transaction count grew 38 times and payment value 20 times. Stripe did not disclose actual purchase numbers. Sierra, a customer-service AI agent company, worked with Stripe on a feature letting customers complete consultation, payment and receipts in a single call.
The Information reported that virtual cards make linking a user to a real purchase harder, complicating fraud screening for card networks and banks. Self CEO Rene Reinsberg told The Information that the biggest business risk for Visa and Mastercard is Stripe infrastructure becoming the default solution.
Visa backs 'Visa Intelligent Commerce' and Mastercard backs 'Mastercard Agent Pay', token-based systems that keep payments on the user's original card. In September, six banks including Bank of America asked in a draft industry guideline for 'auditable' payment information intake, wary of methods that obscure the link between purchase and user or merchant.
Quick answers
How does Link keep AI agent payments secure?
Link issues a one-time virtual card capped at an amount the user authorizes, and the agent never sees the real card number.
Which AI agents use Stripe's Link?
Meta's personal AI agents Muse and Instinct use Link as a payment method.
How much did Link grow in September?
According to Decoder, Link's transaction count grew 38 times and payment value 20 times in September, though Stripe did not disclose actual purchase numbers.