Does Allowance work with OpenClaw?

Yes. Allowance works with OpenClaw agents, ChatGPT, Claude, and any AI agent that can use virtual cards. Your agent never sees your real card details — it receives a single-use, merchant-locked virtual card with the exact budget you approve.

How do I give an OpenClaw agent a payment card safely?

Instead of storing your real card number in an OpenClaw config (which exposes you to infostealer attacks), use Allowance to issue a single-use virtual card with a specific merchant lock, spending cap, and expiry. Your agent requests it, you approve once, and the card self-destructs after use.

What is a virtual card for an AI agent?

A virtual card for an AI agent is a temporary, single-use payment credential with enforced rules: a specific merchant it can charge, a maximum amount, and an expiry window. The agent uses the card to complete a purchase and the card immediately becomes invalid. This prevents unauthorized charges even if the agent is compromised.

Is it safe to give an AI agent my credit card?

Giving an AI agent your real credit card number is risky: the number can be stored in config files, logs, or memory, and stolen by infostealer malware. Allowance solves this by giving your agent a scoped virtual card instead — merchant-locked, amount-capped, and auto-expiring — so your real card is never exposed.

What are agentic payments?

Agentic payments are purchases initiated autonomously by an AI agent on behalf of a human. The human sets a budget and rules upfront — merchant, amount cap, time limit — then the agent completes the transaction without further intervention. Allowance gives you the control layer to approve, limit, and revoke these permissions.

Backed by Y Combinator

Allowance gives your AI
a wallet with rules.

Your AI gets a one-time card number — never your real one.
Set a limit, lock a merchant, add an expiry.

Paste this into your Codex, OpenClaw, or Claude Code agent. It'll set up Allowance so you can approve purchases from your phone.

codex

Use Allowance to make purchases for me. Follow https://useallowance.com/SKILL.md

Your agent will run the command, walk through setup, and be ready to buy things for you.
Allowance works best with Codex.

"Book me a flight to SF next Friday, under $500."

"Order my oat milk latte from Blue Bottle every weekday."

"Get 4 tickets to Toy Story 5 for opening night."

"Get me 4 pitchside tickets to the FIFA Final, under $750 each."

"Carbone for 2, next week — grab it when it opens."

"Reorder my weekly groceries on Instacart."

"Find a birthday gift for my daughter, under $50."

Claude

Book me a flight to SF next Friday, under $500.

I found 3 good options on United and Delta. The best is United at $472 departing at 9am. This requires payment to complete.

Allowance

Merchant United Airlines

Limit $500

Expires 30 minutes

Funding source Citi Double Cash ····7910

Note Book cheapest flight to SFO

Done. Your flight is booked. United Airlines$472.31 SFO · Feb 14 · 9:00am

Allowance used $472.31 at United Airlines. Permission expired.

Order my usual oat milk latte from Blue Bottle every weekday at 7:30am.

Set up your recurring order. Blue Bottle Oat Milk Latte, weekdays at 7:30am. This is a recurring purchase.

Allowance

Merchant Blue Bottle Coffee

Limit $8 / order

Expires Never

Funding source Citi Double Cash ····7910

Note Oat milk latte, weekdays at 7:30am

All set. Your first order will be placed tomorrow at 7:30am.

Recurring allowance scheduled Next order: tomorrow at 7:30am via Blue Bottle.

Get 4 tickets to Toy Story 5 for opening night. Best seats you can find.

Toy Story 5 opens Fri Jun 19. I'll grab 4 tickets the moment they go on sale. This is a scheduled purchase.

Allowance

Merchant AMC Theaters

Limit $100

Expires Jun 19, 2026

Funding source Citi Double Cash ····7910

Note 4 tickets to Toy Story 5, opening night

Got it. I'm watching for tickets now. AMC usually opens sales about 4 days before showtime.

Allowance pending Watching for Toy Story 5 tickets at AMC. Expires Jun 19.

Get me 4 pitchside tickets to the FIFA World Cup Final, under $750 each.

Final is Jul 19 in NYC. I'll grab 4 pitchside seats under $750 each the moment tickets go on sale. This is a scheduled purchase.

Allowance

Merchant FIFA / Ticketmaster

Limit $3,000

Expires Jul 19, 2026

Funding source Citi Double Cash ····7910

Note Pitchside preferred, best available

Got it. I'm watching for pitchside tickets now.

Allowance pending Watching for FIFA Final pitchside tickets. Expires Jul 19.

Get me a reservation at Carbone for 2 people next week when one opens up.

On it. I'll monitor OpenTable and Resy and book a table for 2 the moment one opens. This is a scheduled purchase.

Allowance

Merchant Carbone NYC

Limit $100

Expires 7 days

Funding source Citi Double Cash ····7910

Note Table for 2, next week

Set. I'll notify you the moment a table is booked.

Allowance pending Watching for a Carbone table for 2. Expires in 7 days.

Reorder my weekly groceries on Instacart.

Recreating your last order from Tuesday. Total is $143. Ready to check out. This requires payment to complete.

Allowance

Merchant Instacart

Limit $200

Expires 2 hours

Funding source Citi Double Cash ····7910

Note Weekly grocery reorder

Order placed. Delivery estimated between 2–3pm today.

Allowance used $143.00 at Instacart. Permission expired.

Find a birthday gift for my daughter, under $50.

Found a Lego Botanicals set she'd love. $44.99 on Amazon, ships tomorrow. This requires payment to complete.

Allowance

Merchant Amazon

Limit $50

Expires 1 hour

Funding source Citi Double Cash ····7910

Note Birthday gift for daughter

Ordered! Arrives tomorrow. Gift message added.

Allowance used $44.99 at Amazon. Permission expired.

Your rules, enforced

All the control, none of the anxiety.

Every permission you grant is precise, temporary, and transparent.

Spending limits

Set per-task, daily, or monthly caps. Your AI can never spend more than you allow.

Merchant-locked

Every allowance is locked to a specific merchant. No surprises, no unauthorized charges.

Auto-expiring

Permissions expire by default. No lingering access. Grant it, use it, done.

Every transaction logged

See exactly what your AI spent, where, and when. Full receipt for every purchase.

Instant revocation

Changed your mind? Kill the permission instantly. Your AI loses access immediately.

No card sharing

Your AI never sees your card number. Allowance creates a temporary credential for each purchase.

Allowance gives your AI
a wallet with rules.

Say it. Set it. Done.

Tell your AI what you need

Set a limit

Your AI handles the rest

All the control, none of the anxiety.

Spending limits

Merchant-locked

Auto-expiring

Every transaction logged

Instant revocation

No card sharing

Your AI is ready to help.
Give it an Allowance.

Allowance gives your AIa wallet with rules.

Say it. Set it. Done.

Tell your AI what you need

Set a limit

Your AI handles the rest

All the control, none of the anxiety.

Spending limits

Merchant-locked

Auto-expiring

Every transaction logged

Instant revocation

No card sharing

Your AI is ready to help.Give it an Allowance.

Allowance gives your AI
a wallet with rules.

Your AI is ready to help.
Give it an Allowance.