An Account Fit for an Agent (Pool MCP Launch)

Your agent already makes payments. Starting today, you can give it an account to manage.

We’re excited to share that you can now use Pool with personal agents and assistants. We’re already using agents to write emails, do research, plan trips and contest parking tickets. One-off transactions are exploding! And at Pool, we believe agents can help with other types of money management tasks too, inside whatever agent you’re already using.

Most traditional banks are launching their own proprietary assistants in their banking apps and blocking outside agents entirely. We’re doing the opposite: we want to bring a financial account into an agent you already use.

Instead of banning access, we want to build the control system that makes this type of access possible.

An agent does not need access to your entire bank account or credit limit to help with a particular job. It needs an account it can access, appropriate authorizations and safety measures, and a set of clear directions to follow.

We’re getting to a point where agents can help with the work that comes with running accounts. Tedious admin tasks like checking balances, configuring rules, moving money and managing access.

Instead of opening another app, text your agent:

Your agent can carry out supported actions, not just tell you how to do them. All without leaving the tools you’re already using.

Many people still don’t trust an agent with their primary credit card or bank account. This is understandable! As better controls are put in place, we think this will change.

Pool works with compatible personal agents and assistants through our MCP connection. Our goal is to support as many as possible, because we believe that you should be able to access and manage money from wherever you already work.

With an agent that supports scheduled tasks, you can begin to build ongoing workflows around your accounts, too. Here’s a comparison between a workflow that attempts to use Wells Fargo’s “Fargo” Assistant versus Pool + Town:

How is this different from paying with an agent?

Every Pool is custom-built around a specific job with its own balance, cards, rules, members, and permissions. A house account, a caregiver card, travel savings, or whatever else you’re managing.

When you pay with an agent, the underlying card or bank account you are using goes into that agent’s wallet. This could be your primary card or bank account, and the wallet is in charge of keeping your credentials safe.

We’re building the account and card layer because we believe a new set of cards and accounts should exist that are designed specifically for agents to use. You can enter your Pool credentials or debit card into any agent wallet today.

A wallet gives an agent a way to pay. An account gives an agent something to manage. That’s the key difference.

Safety is a critical consideration, and something that factors into every product decision we make. Agents introduce a brand-new way to interact with money, and it’s entirely reasonable to question what could go wrong. Real money means high stakes.

We want to make our approach to agents very clear:

Giving agents access to money should come with clear, understandable controls. We’re working hard to make these controls easy to understand and adjust. It’s your money, after all.

We are at the very beginning of seeing how personal agents will work with real financial accounts. We have a lot of ideas and quite a long history in payments, but we certainly don’t have all the answers. We know this will require ongoing collaboration between our customers, our banking partner, the card networks, and many others. We’re genuinely excited to take part in this moment in time.

We want to be open about what we’re building, share what we’re learning, and hear from people exploring this new world. We’d especially love to hear from those experimenting with agents themselves. What works? What have you set up? What should we build next?

If you connect an agent to Pool, tell us what you asked it to do, and what you wish were possible. Your feedback will shape what we build next.

Then, connect a compatible agent to Pool and get to work:

Text your money. It’s finally ready to listen.

Pool is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by First Internet Bank, Member FDIC. See applicable account agreements and disclosures: https://poolmoney.com/legal