AI agents are starting to make purchases for users through Stripe’s Link payment service. Stripe reports a sharp rise in activity, but has not disclosed the underlying transaction count or the total value of those purchases, leaving the scale of the trend unclear.
Fast growth, undisclosed totals
In September, the number of agent transactions through Link grew 38-fold, while payment volume grew 20-fold. Those figures describe growth, but without starting totals they do not show how many purchases took place or how much money changed hands.
Upstarts Media reported that the increase began from a small base, limiting what the growth rates say about the market’s actual size. Stripe executive Dan Hill said the volume is now becoming significant. The two points can coexist: activity may be rising quickly while the public figures still leave its overall scale unknown.
More agents, varied purchases
When Stripe conducted its analysis, about 70 agents were using Link. Hill said that figure has since grown to around 200, including Meta’s Muse and Grok Bot.
The purchases vary in size and purpose. Hill said most agents spend about $100 per transaction, while some users ask them to book flights or buy furniture worth thousands of dollars. That range suggests agent shopping can involve routine spending as well as larger, more considered purchases.
Retail accounted for 36 percent of transactions and 32 percent of payment volume. Travel was next, making up 28 percent of volume. These figures show where the reported spending is concentrated, even though Stripe has not published the total amount spent.
How Link handles agent payments
Link does not pass a user’s real credit card number to an agent. Instead, it issues a separate 16-digit number, and users can set spending limits. That setup gives agents a payment method for purchases while keeping the real card number out of their hands.
The ability to set limits is relevant as agents handle different kinds of spending, from transactions around $100 to purchases worth thousands. The source does not describe how users choose those limits or how the system handles a purchase that exceeds one. It does establish that spending controls are part of Link’s approach.
A market with potential rivals
Anthropic and OpenAI also use Link, though not yet for agent purchases. Stripe therefore has relationships with companies building AI services, but the article distinguishes that existing use from agents actually making purchases through the service.
Hill expects Stripe will not remain the only option. He named PayPal and Shopify’s Shop Pay as competitors and described the market as still being in its very early days.
For now, the reported growth offers a signal of rising interest rather than a full picture of commerce handled by AI agents. The number of agents has increased, purchases span retail and travel, and Link includes spending limits. But without transaction totals or a disclosed payment volume, readers cannot tell how large agent shopping has become in absolute terms.