As we round out 2026, the fintech industry has shifted from talking about AI to talking about AI agents. Agentic commerce has gained popularity as consumers and businesses have started using AI agents to compare prices, book travel, search for products, and identify opportunities to save money. Research, however, is only one component of outsourcing tasks using AI. Completing those tasks often requires the ability to make a payment.

To keep up the pace of what is now technically possible using agents, fintechs and banks have started to introduce financial tools designed for AI agents. Instead of giving an agent unrestricted access to an entire bank account or credit limit, these new solutions allow users to delegate spending authority while maintaining control over the amount an agent can spend, the merchants at which it can spend, and when to require approval before finalizing a transaction.

The latest fintech creating structure for agentic payments is stablecoin payment infrastructure company Rain. The New York-based company recently introduced Agent Vaults, a solution that allows developers to equip AI agents with funded balances, spending controls, and transaction-specific payment cards.

In addition to Rain, many other fintechs have developed tools that offer AI agents spending and money transfer capabilities. Generally, there are three approaches to agent spending: dedicated spending accounts, agent-specific payment cards, and delegated payment authorization. Here’s a breakdown of each model and a look at the companies bringing them to market.

Dedicated spending accounts give an AI agent access to a separate pool of funds rather than allowing it to spend directly from a user’s primary account.

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