Lab Report

Allowance: Scoped Payment Credentials for AI Agents

Let your AI agents shop, book, and order on your behalf without ever exposing your real card number. Set spending limits, merchant restrictions, and expiration windows, then approve each transaction from your iPhone.

Try Allowance Allowance tool screenshot

gavelThe Verdict

Allowance solves a real and growing problem: how do you let an AI agent spend money on your behalf without handing over your actual payment credentials? If you are building or using agentic workflows that need to make purchases, book travel, or order food, this is the missing infrastructure layer. The free tier is limited, but the $9.99/month Pro plan is reasonable for anyone who regularly delegates purchasing tasks to AI. Early stage (YC P2026), so expect some rough edges and regional gaps, but the core concept is sound and increasingly necessary.

Pricing

Free

$0/month

check_circleBasic payment controls
check_circleLimited merchant access

Good for testing the concept with a single agent.

Recommended

Pro

$9.99/month

check_circleCustom spending limits
check_circleMerchant restrictions
check_circleFull AI agent support

The sweet spot for individual power users and small teams.

Enterprise

Custom

check_circleAdvanced security
check_circleFull merchant access
check_circlePriority support

For organizations running multiple agents at scale. Contact sales.

Key Features

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Scoped Payment Credentials

Generates one-time, limited-use virtual card numbers. Your real card details are never shared with the AI agent or the merchant it transacts with.

phone_iphone

iPhone Approval Flow

Every transaction requires your explicit approval via push notification on your iPhone. You stay in the loop without being in the way.

tune

Custom Spending Limits

Set per-transaction caps, daily limits, or total budget ceilings. If an agent tries to exceed the limit, the credential simply declines.

store

Merchant Restrictions

Lock credentials to specific merchants or merchant categories. An agent tasked with ordering lunch cannot suddenly book a flight.

timer

Expiration Windows

Credentials auto-expire after a set time window. Issue a 30-minute credential for a quick purchase, or a 24-hour window for travel booking.

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Platform Integrations

Works with payment processors, e-commerce platforms, and mobile wallets. Designed to slot into existing agentic workflows without custom plumbing.

Who Should Use This

shopping_cart

AI-Driven Shopping

If you use agents to compare prices and buy products across multiple retailers, Allowance lets them complete the checkout without you pasting card numbers into prompts or browser automations.

restaurant

Food Ordering

Delegate lunch orders to an agent with a $25 cap locked to food delivery platforms. It handles the order; you just approve the charge from your phone.

flight

Travel Booking

Let a travel agent AI search and book flights, hotels, or car rentals within your budget. The scoped credential ensures it cannot overspend or charge to unauthorized merchants.

confirmation_number

Ticket Purchasing

Have an agent monitor ticket availability for concerts, events, or sports and buy when the price is right. Set a max price and let it act autonomously within those bounds.

Limitations

warning
Free tier is very limited. The restricted merchant access on the free plan makes it hard to evaluate the product for real use cases. You will likely need to upgrade to Pro almost immediately to do anything meaningful.
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iPhone-only approvals. Transaction approval currently requires an iPhone. If you are on Android or want to approve from a desktop, you are out of luck for now. This is a significant gap for a tool targeting developers and power users, many of whom use Android.
warning
Regional availability. Not available in all regions. If you are outside the US (and likely a handful of other markets), you may not be able to use the service yet. Check before getting excited.
warning
Early-stage product. As a YC P2026 company, Allowance is still very new. The integration ecosystem, merchant coverage, and feature set will evolve. Expect some friction and missing capabilities compared to mature virtual card providers like Privacy.com or Brex.
warning
Approval bottleneck. Requiring human approval for every transaction is great for security but could become a bottleneck if you are running multiple agents making frequent purchases. There does not appear to be a "pre-approved" mode for trusted, recurring transactions yet.

Ready to let your AI agents pay safely?

Allowance is solving a real infrastructure gap for agentic commerce. If you are building workflows that need to transact, it is worth a look.

Try Allowance

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