Documentation

Hermes Bank technical map.

Hermes Bank is a privacy-first prepaid card desk for AI agents. The user pays with crypto, Hermes confirms settlement, then the backend fulfills a prepaid card order and shows the delivered card inside a private dashboard tab.

API live Dashboard live Provider hidden from users
Getting started

Quickstart

Hermes Bank gives users and agents a controlled prepaid card surface. The dashboard handles card creation, balance visibility, card tabs, transaction history, and agent-facing card requests.

Local site:
http://localhost:4174

Production:
https://hermesbank.one

Core pages:
/          marketing page
/dashboard prepaid card desk
/agent     agent wrapper
/docs      technical documentation

Hermes endpoints:
/api/balances
/api/cards
/api/transactions
/api/payment-intents
/api/agent-card-issue
Hermes keeps provider details internal. Users see the Hermes card, balance, ledger, and policy surface; fulfillment rails stay behind the product boundary.
System shape

Architecture

Hermes should be structured as a thin product layer over three secure systems: crypto checkout, prepaid fulfillment, and internal ledger. The user should never see raw provider implementation details. The dashboard should only show Hermes-branded cards, balances, orders, and transaction state.

  1. User chooses card type, country, amount, and recipient label.
  2. Backend creates a crypto payment intent with amount plus fee.
  3. Crypto watcher confirms payment on the selected network.
  4. Backend creates the prepaid card order through fulfillment rails.
  5. Backend stores card metadata and encrypted card delivery data.
  6. Dashboard reads cards, balances, and transactions from Hermes API.
Browser
  -> Hermes API
    -> Crypto payment service
    -> Ledger database
    -> Prepaid fulfillment provider
  -> Dashboard card tab + transaction ledger
Product surface

Dashboard

The dashboard is the operating console. It should answer four questions immediately: how much spend is available, what cards exist, what was paid, and what is waiting for settlement.

Block Purpose Production source
Vault balance Total available crypto-denominated balance. Ledger service
Fulfillment balance Reserve available for prepaid card delivery. Provider balance sync
Issued volume Total delivered card face value. Card orders table
Transaction ledger Crypto payments, card orders, refunds, failures. Transactions table
Cards

Card Issuance

A card should be created only after confirmed payment. The card tab is the delivery surface: it contains the Hermes card artwork on one side and returned card data on the other side.

{
  "type": "Hermes Prepaid Visa",
  "country": "US",
  "amount": 50,
  "recipient": "Research Agent",
  "status": "DELIVERED",
  "orderId": "ORD-8K2DP-N4M9Q",
  "issuedAt": "2026-06-21T19:35:00.000Z"
}

Sensitive card delivery fields are treated as private card data. The dashboard reveals only the fields required for the user or agent mission: card code, PIN, redemption URL, expiry, or instructions depending on product type.

Ledger

Transactions

Every user-visible card should map to ledger events. At minimum, each card order creates a crypto payment transaction and a prepaid order transaction. Later versions should add refunds, failed orders, settlement adjustments, and manual review events.

{
  "id": "tx_01J...",
  "type": "Crypto payment",
  "status": "CONFIRMED",
  "amount": 51.50,
  "asset": "USDC",
  "reference": "PAY-2K4M9-Q8W7P",
  "createdAt": "2026-06-21T19:35:00.000Z"
}
Status Meaning
PENDING Payment intent created, waiting for crypto confirmation.
CONFIRMED Crypto payment confirmed and usable for fulfillment.
DELIVERED Prepaid card data received and shown to the user.
FAILED Payment or fulfillment failed and needs resolution.
Balances

Balances

Balances must be derived from the ledger, not manually edited in the browser. The frontend should call a backend balance endpoint that returns the latest available crypto balance, fulfillment reserve, pending spend, and issued volume.

{
  "cryptoBalance": {
    "asset": "USDC",
    "available": 2788.50
  },
  "fulfillmentBalance": {
    "currency": "USD",
    "available": 1870.00
  },
  "issuedVolume": 50.00,
  "pendingSpend": 0.00,
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-21T19:35:00.000Z"
}
Agent wrapper

Agent Shell

The Agent Shell is the machine-facing wrapper around Hermes. It is designed for AI agents that need to discover allowed payment actions, request permissioned prepaid cards, and read ledger state without receiving owner wallet access.

File Purpose
/agent Human-readable shell page with examples for agent developers.
/api/balances Current available balance, fulfillment reserve, pending spend, and issued volume.
/api/agent-card-issue Permissioned card request endpoint for agent missions.
Agent startup flow:
1. Read assigned policy and spend scope.
2. GET /api/balances before requesting spend.
3. POST /api/payment-intents with idempotency key.
4. POST /api/agent-card-issue after payment confirmation.
5. GET /api/transactions to reconcile the mission ledger.
Required scopes:
balances:read
transactions:read
cards:issue
cards:read
Agent access is policy-first. A token should never grant broad wallet access; it should grant a narrow card mission with explicit amount, merchant scope, expiry, and approval rules.
Fulfillment

Reloadly Rail

Reloadly can be used as the prepaid fulfillment layer. Its tokens are product-scoped, so the backend should request the correct audience for the product being used. Keep Reloadly credentials and product metadata server-side only.

Auth:
POST https://auth.reloadly.com/oauth/token
grant_type=client_credentials
audience=https://giftcards.reloadly.com

Sandbox base:
https://giftcards-sandbox.reloadly.com

Production base:
https://giftcards.reloadly.com
Fulfillment flow:
1. GET products and validate country/amount availability.
2. POST /orders after crypto payment confirmation.
3. Store provider transaction ID internally.
4. GET /orders/transactions/{transactionId}/cards.
5. Return Hermes-formatted card details to dashboard.
User-facing UI should say “prepaid cards” and “Hermes fulfillment.” Provider names belong in internal docs, logs, and admin tools.
Controls

Security and Risk Rules

  • Never create a card order before crypto confirmation.
  • Encrypt card delivery data at rest.
  • Do not log full card codes, PINs, redemption URLs, or secrets.
  • Apply per-user, per-agent, and per-day issuance limits.
  • Block unsupported countries before checkout.
  • Require manual review for repeated failed payments or high velocity.
  • Keep provider API keys in server environment variables only.
  • Use idempotency keys for payment and card order creation.
Language

Product Copy Rules

Hermes should sound private, premium, and operational. Avoid claiming regulated banking functionality until the legal and issuing partner setup exists. The product promise is controlled prepaid spend for agents, not a full bank account.

Use Avoid
Prepaid card desk Bank card issuer
Crypto checkout Deposit account
Private cards for AI agents Anonymous banking
Fulfillment reserve Provider balance in user UI
Next

Roadmap

  1. Connect real crypto payment intents and confirmation webhooks.
  2. Add database-backed balances, cards, users, and transactions.
  3. Expand fulfillment coverage across supported prepaid products.
  4. Add secure card reveal flow with encrypted storage.
  5. Ship admin reconciliation for failed orders and refunds.
  6. Expand authenticated user and agent account controls.