Payment authorization evaluates a proposed transaction against delegated authority before funds move. Policies can use per-transaction and cumulative limits, recipient allowlists, resource type, currency, location, time, risk score, or an explicit human approval requirement.
The authorization layer should sign or bind the exact approved transaction so later agent output cannot broaden it. Every approval, rejection, payment proof, and policy decision should remain available for audit and dispute handling.
ELI5
Agent payment authorization is the rule check that decides whether an AI agent may make a particular payment. It can limit how much the agent spends, who receives it, what is being purchased, and when a person must approve.
For example, a policy could allow data purchases below one cent from an approved service but block every transfer to a new wallet. The permission should apply only to the exact transaction that was checked.
Can an agent have different limits for different services?
Yes. Policies can vary by recipient, service type, currency, time period, project, risk level, and whether the transaction is reversible.
When should a person approve an agent payment?
Human approval is useful for high-value, unusual, irreversible, new-recipient, policy-changing, or otherwise consequential transactions.
