Crossmint’s AI agent payments platform Lobster.cash is integrating Mastercard Agent Pay and the Verifiable Intent framework, a move designed to let AI agents make purchases through users’ existing Mastercard accounts with explicit authorization. The rollout initially targets the Openclaw ecosystem, which has deployed more than 1 million agents across over 20 messaging platforms.
Card-backed payments for agentic commerce
Under the integration, Openclaw users will be able to authorize AI agents to spend on their behalf without directly sharing card credentials with those agents. Transactions will still flow through Mastercard’s network and remain under issuer controls, allowing banks to retain visibility into what an agent is buying, the amount involved, and the conditions attached to the payment.
Crossmint co-founder Alfonso Gomez-Jordana Manas said the goal is to reduce friction between cardholders and their agents by letting users put the cards they already have to work while preserving the security and control associated with Mastercard.
Verifiable records for user-approved spending
A central part of the deal is Mastercard’s Verifiable Intent framework, co-developed with Google. The system creates cryptographic records that confirm a user explicitly approved a specific transaction within defined limits. Those records can later be independently checked by issuers, merchants, and platforms, adding an auditable layer to agent-driven payments.
The framework is also aligned with two emerging standards, the Agent Payments Protocol and the Universal Commerce Protocol, which could help it remain interoperable as more agentic commerce platforms come online.
Extending payment rails into open developer ecosystems
Mastercard Chief Digital Officer Pablo Fourez said the integration brings Mastercard’s payments infrastructure into open agent platforms, where spending controls have historically been set more by developers than by traditional financial institutions. The company’s Agent Pay system is already in use at major financial institutions including Santander, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DBS, and UOB.
By connecting that infrastructure to Lobster.cash, Mastercard is expanding from institutional deployments into more open, developer-led environments while aiming to preserve the same consumer protections and issuer oversight.
Built on Solana with stablecoins and card rails
Lobster.cash is built on Solana and structured around stablecoins, traditional card rails, and partners such as Circle, Visa, Basis Theory, and Stytch. The platform allows users to set programmable controls on agent spending by merchant, amount, and payment method. Sensitive payment credentials are handled through Basis Theory, keeping them off agent infrastructure.
Beyond Openclaw, Lobster.cash already supports agents running on Claude Code, Devin, Hermes, and Zo Computer. Crossmint said it plans to launch an early access program before expanding the Mastercard Agent Pay integration across the broader Openclaw ecosystem and additional agent platforms.
As agentic commerce moves closer to real-world deployment, the industry’s focus is shifting toward who governs autonomous spending and how that authority can be verified. This integration positions the card network, rather than only the agent developer, as the center of accountability.