- SPECIMEN
Allowance
- FILED AS
Scoped Payment Credentials for AI Agents
- INTAKE DATE
- 2026-05-19
- CLASS
- Security
- METHOD
- desk research, filed before the Lab logged its counts
No dimension scores were recorded for this specimen, so no Koda Score is published. Read the verdict instead.
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.
Open Allowance
The 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, straight.
Free
$0/month
- Basic payment controls
- Limited merchant access
Good for testing the concept with a single agent.
Pro
$9.99/month
- Custom spending limits
- Merchant restrictions
- Full AI agent support
The sweet spot for individual power users and small teams.
Enterprise
Custom
- Advanced security
- Full merchant access
- Priority support
For organizations running multiple agents at scale. Contact sales.
Pricing as captured on 2026-05-19. Check the live site before you commit.
What it actually does.
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.
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.
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.
Merchant Restrictions
Lock credentials to specific merchants or merchant categories. An agent tasked with ordering lunch cannot suddenly book a flight.
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.
Platform Integrations
Works with payment processors, e-commerce platforms, and mobile wallets. Designed to slot into existing agentic workflows without custom plumbing.
Who it is for.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The honest part.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.