Stripe has introduced Link, a digital wallet designed to support both personal payment management and the growing use of autonomous AI agents in everyday commerce. The announcement was made at the company's annual Sessions 2026 conference and positions Link as a response to a specific friction point in agentic commerce: how to allow AI agents to transact on a user's behalf without exposing underlying payment credentials.
Available on the web, iOS, and Android, Link supports the connection of multiple payment methods, including cards, bank accounts, crypto wallets, and buy now, pay later services, alongside storage of billing and shipping details for online checkout. Users can also track spending, monitor recurring subscriptions, and update payment methods held on file by subscription services. The wallet includes 90 days of purchase protection on eligible transactions from select merchants.
Agentic payments and the credentials problem
The wallet's most significant aspect is its architecture for AI agent authorisation. As autonomous agents, used for tasks such as booking reservations, purchasing tickets, and shopping, become more prevalent, the question of how they access payment information has become a practical concern. Stripe's approach centres on an OAuth-based flow: a user first grants their agent access to Link, after which the agent can submit a spend request, provide contextual detail, and await user approval before any payment credentials are shared.
At the infrastructure level, Link is built on Stripe's Issuing for agents product, which enables the creation of virtual cards for agent use, with real-time authorisation, spending controls, and transaction visibility. Users can grant agents either programmatic access to Link, which generates a one-time-use card, or access via a Shared Payment Token (SPT), backed by cards or bank accounts.
Currently, Link supports traditional payment methods in this agentic context. Stripe has indicated that support for agentic tokens, stablecoins, and additional payment types is forthcoming, though no specific timeline has been provided. Future iterations are also expected to allow users to set spending limits or define conditions under which their agents can act without requiring explicit approval.
The product also carries implications for developers. Businesses and developers building AI agents or personal assistant applications can integrate Link's wallet infrastructure rather than constructing their own, reducing the engineering burden associated with payment handling in agentic applications.
The release reflects a broader shift in digital commerce where the distinction between a human-initiated transaction and a machine-initiated one is becoming commercially and technically significant. Stripe's approach, layering agent access controls on top of established card and bank payment rails, suggests the company is positioning its infrastructure as foundational to the emerging agentic payments ecosystem.
