Visa Crypto Labs Launches Command-Line Tool for Secure AI Payments

• Visa Crypto Labs launches “Visa CLI,” a Command-Line Interface tool.
• The command-line tool allows AI agents to make payments directly while running code.

Visa Crypto Labs has developed a command-line interface that enables AI agents to make secure card payments. As it eliminates the need for regular API keys, opening the way for more agentic economic activity.

On March 18, Cuy Sheffield, Head of Visa Crypto Labs, wrote, “Excited to share Visa CLI, the first experimental product from Visa Crypto Labs.”It means that without requiring human contact or API keys, users can provide bots, scripts, and other automated coding workflows with the capability to pay for web services.

A command-line interface (CLI) tool is a program that can be operated only by entering text instructions, rather than clicking buttons, menus, or icons, as in typical programs. The Visa website, currently in beta, encourages users to sign up using their GitHub account.

According to the official Visa Blog, “AI agents aren’t just answering questions. They’re executing tasks, coordinating services, consuming APIs, purchasing compute, and completing automated B2B workflows – including micropayments for API calls, cloud resources, and machine-to-machine services from the command line. As agents become more capable, the payments infrastructure supporting them must also evolve to enable Command Line Commerce.”

Visa Expands Payment Flexibility Through MPP

While Visa also said that it had integrated the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) to support card-based payments on its global card network. The company built a card-native extension to MPP to give developers and agentic builders more choice in how to make payments. 

“While stablecoin rails are opening new possibilities for programmable, on-chain payments, today, most commerce transactions happen with cards,” according to the blog. “By extending MPP to enable cards, we’re connecting these systems so agents can transact seamlessly across existing and emerging payment networks.”

Further, Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products & Strategic Partnerships, Visa said, “We’re entering a moment where agents can make decisions, move resources and pay for services on their own. But for these kinds of payments to scale, security isn’t optional, it has to be built into every layer – from authentication and data privacy to fraud prevention.”

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