ChatGPT Wallet Lets OpenAI’s Agents Pay Without Seeing Your Card

OpenAI’s AI agents can now pay for shopping on a user’s behalf without seeing the real card number. The new ChatGPT Wallet went live on Friday, but only for paying Pro users in the US, a small group among the 1.2 billion people OpenAI says use ChatGPT each week.

The new payment feature was announced in a company blog post on 13 November. OpenAI built it together with American Express, Mastercard and Visa. For now it works only with dots, the always-on agents that OpenAI added to ChatGPT in September. Users must be 18 or older and have an eligible card issued in the US.

How a purchase works

A user adds a card once. When the AI agent is ready to buy something, the user sees the items, the total and the chosen card. The user then approves the purchase with a check such as Face ID or a fingerprint scan.

After that, the card network creates a payment token. This is a stand-in card number, security code and expiry date that is used in place of the real card details. OpenAI says neither the shop nor the AI agent sees the real card. Users keep their card rewards and the usual protections, for example when an item arrives broken.

Each agent has its own cloud computer and web browser, and it can keep working on a task after the user closes the chat. The agents were first shown at a developer event on 29 September.

Plans for purchases without approval

OpenAI says that over time, users should be able to let AI agents make purchases without approving each one. Limits such as a spending cap, a type of product or a time period would apply. It has not given a date.

Some shops may also turn agents away by mistake. OpenAI says some websites and fraud systems block or cancel real purchases made by agents. It is working with payment firms including Adyen, Checkout.com and Stripe to reduce this.

Luke Gebb, who leads innovation at American Express, said the limited start was the “right approach to make sure things are working”. He made the comment in an interview with an American business news channel.

Paying safely is not the same as buying safely

A safe payment does not mean a safe shop. In September, a firm that protects brands asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity where to buy products from 151 brands. Across 6,795 answers, ChatGPT showed a risky website, such as a fake shop or a dead web address, in 8% of its answers. Perplexity did so in 15% and Gemini in 4%.

The firm has published its method and full results. It sells brand protection, so these are its own figures from its own test questions. Not every business wants AI agents to shop on behalf of its customers, either. We reported this week on one airline that blocks them.

Why it matters: The token keeps the card number away from the AI agent, but it does not check whether the shop is real. For now, the main safeguard is still the user, who must read each purchase before approving it.