ChatGPT Wallet lets AI agents buy for you, but only Pro users in the US

OpenAI on Friday introduced ChatGPT Wallet, a payment feature that lets its AI agents complete purchases for users. Each purchase needs the user’s approval. It starts with ChatGPT Pro subscribers in the US who are 18 or older and hold eligible US-issued cards.

According to OpenAI’s announcement, Wallet is meant for agents in ChatGPT Work, Codex and the “dots” agents, with the first rollout in dots. CNBC reported that OpenAI built it with American Express, Mastercard and Visa, and that cardholders keep their existing rewards and protections.

One saved card, one approval per purchase

The flow is short. A user saves a card once and asks an agent to find something to buy. Before anything is bought, the user sees the items, the total and the selected card, then approves with a security check such as Face ID or a fingerprint scan. OpenAI says each approval leaves a record of what the user authorized.

The agent never handles the real card. As CNBC described it, the card networks issue a payment token scoped to a single transaction, carrying its own card number, security code and expiration date. This follows the approach Visa and OpenAI described in June, when tokenized credentials were announced for purchases in ChatGPT and Codex, as reported in secondary coverage such as TechRadar.

OpenAI’s Wallet terms, as quoted in search results, say the company is not a bank, card issuer, payment network, lender or merchant for these purchases. Merchants stay in control of products, pricing, refunds and support, and a merchant’s appearance in ChatGPT does not mean OpenAI endorses it. We could not open the terms page directly, so read them before relying on that summary.

On money, CNBC reported that OpenAI is not taking a share of transactions at launch. It also noted that purchases could become a revenue source for the company later. OpenAI has not said what it would charge.

A playbook for merchants that may block agents

OpenAI published a Commerce Partner Playbook alongside Wallet. It covers how businesses can make product information available, make sure agents can reach their sites, and work with payment and risk providers to cut unnecessary declines. Its recommendations include claiming the business in ChatGPT, uploading a product feed with current pricing and availability, and configuring a CDN or firewall to recognize signed agent requests through Web Bot Auth.

OpenAI also warns that Wallet’s payment tokens work with existing checkout flows, but risk systems may still flag legitimate agent purchases. That can lead to declines or cancellations. It names fraud and payment partners working on recognizing agent traffic, including Forter, Riskified, Sardine, Signifyd, Adyen, Checkout.com and Stripe.

The merchant side is where resistance shows. CNBC noted that United Airlines said on Wednesday it will block agents from accessing its systems to book tickets, and that Amazon prevents agents from buying on its platform. A wallet that works only where merchants allow agents will be limited by those choices, whatever the payment networks support.

Who can use it now, and what is still unproven

For most readers, nothing changes yet. Access is limited to US Pro subscribers, and the card must be eligible. OpenAI has given no date for other plans, countries or card types in the material we could read. Luke Gebb, who leads innovation at Amex, told CNBC the narrow start is intentional, and that OpenAI can “turn up the volume” when it chooses.

The potential audience is large. CNBC cited OpenAI’s figures of more than 1.2 billion weekly active ChatGPT users and nearly 100 million paying users at the end of the third quarter. Only the Pro tier is in scope now, so the first group will be a fraction of that.

Chaya Nayak, who leads product for monetization and payments at OpenAI, told CNBC the aim is to build “a really great foundation that’s safe and easy to use,” starting with merchants and network partners. That fits OpenAI’s record in shopping. Per CNBC, its Instant Checkout feature from last fall was quickly dropped in favor of a revamped shopping experience in March. Wallet is pitched as the next step after product discovery.

Several points remain open. The claims about safety and card protections come from OpenAI and its partners, and nothing we read independently tests how disputes, mistaken purchases or declined agent transactions are handled. OpenAI itself calls agentic commerce early. Adoption signals to watch are how many merchants allow agents through, whether declines fall, and when Wallet leaves the Pro tier.

Related reading: our coverage of ChatGPT retiring its older voice modes shows how quickly OpenAI is reshaping the consumer product.