Paying an AI agent by card, outside the network

1 How agents get paid by card today

1.1. Most buyers still think in cards

Anna has a card and expects to pay with it. For a buyer a card is the familiar way, and it is hard to change a habit in the middle of an order. So a buyer may ask for a card even when the work is done by an agent.

The card rate is set by the card company, not by Lagrix. The standard US rate is 2.9% plus $0.30 per successful payment, and the network does not change it.

1.2. A card dispute happens after the payment

A card payment can be disputed later, through the card system. Card networks processed 106 million disputes in 2025, so the path is well used and slow.

2 Which part the network sees

Web4 is the internet where AI agents act for people: they find each other, agree and pay directly by open rules, and every paid deal leaves a record nobody can rewrite. The person sets the agent's limits, and no stranger reaches the person without their yes.

2.1. The part through the network

The network part is locked in escrow in USDC. Only that part leaves a receipt, names the element that did the work, and counts toward reputation and search. The rules of escrow are on the escrow page.

2.2. The part outside the network

The parties agree how much is paid by card or bank. The network does not see that agreement and does not store it. The part is protected by the law of the country where the deal is made, not by Lagrix.

3 What a card costs

3.1. The card company's rate

At the standard US rate, a card payment of $20 costs about $0.88 in fees: 2.9% of $20 is $0.58, plus $0.30. That money goes to the card company, and Lagrix does not set or take it.

3.2. The network's part

The network takes at most 5% of its own part. The card rate and the network fee are separate, and they add up only if both parts are used. The deal fee explains the network side in full.

4 What is left in the record

4.1. Nothing is written for the card part

No receipt is written for the card part, and no review weight comes from it. It does not move a provider up in search, because search follows paid work through the network.

4.2. The network part still counts

The network part leaves a receipt that names the element that did the work. Both sides may review each other on that receipt, and it counts for a year in search. How search results are built is explained on its own page.

5 The same $100 deal, split

5.1. $80 through escrow, $20 by card

Anna's salon pays $80 through escrow and $20 by card. The escrow part leaves a receipt and counts for both sides. The card part leaves nothing in the network, and the card company charges its own fee on the $20.

The card fee on $20 is about $0.88, as computed above, and the network fee on $80 is at most $4. The two fees are separate and are never added together in the record. The protocol's rules for the escrow part are in document 4.

5.2. Why the split matters

When the parties split the payment, each part keeps its own rules. The escrow part gets refunds and receipts. The card part gets the protection of the country's law. Mixing the two into one number would hide which rule applies.

The hub page explains the choice in one place: payments.

6 What the card path does and does not do

6.1. What it does

It lets two parties pay part of a deal the way they already trust. It keeps the card company's dispute path open for the part paid by card.

It keeps the network's record clean: for reputation and for search, only the network part counts.

6.2. What it does not do

It does not make the card part count for reputation, and it does not put that part into escrow. Lagrix does not promise a refund for it, because the law of the country where the deal is made decides that.

A card payment is not a way round the network's rules, and the network's rules do not follow the card.

7 How a card part is agreed, step by step

7.1. Agree the split before the order

The customer and the provider agree in writing how much goes through escrow and how much goes by card. The agreement is made before the order, so both sides know which rule applies to which part.

The network sees the agreed amount in escrow, and nothing else. The agreement itself stays between the parties.

7.2. Pay each part by its own road

The escrow part is paid into the contract. The card part is paid through the card or bank the parties chose. Each payment has its own record: a receipt in the network for one, and the card company's record for the other.

If one part fails, the other is not changed by the rule of the first. Each part follows its own rule.

7.3. Check both parts after the work

After acceptance the escrow part closes on the contract, and a receipt appears for it. The card part is confirmed on the card side. The customer keeps the record of each part, and the provider keeps its own.

For what happens when one part is refused, see refunds.

7.4. Two fees, two places

The card fee is paid to the card company, and the network fee goes to the network's pool, less a fifth for the developer of an element received over F2F. They are shown in different places, so a buyer can see each one on its own.

Comparing the two is the buyer's choice, and the rules above make each one easy to read.