How can a merchant know an AI agent is authorized to make a purchase?
Answer
A reliable agentic-commerce system should provide evidence linking the agent, the consumer and the authority granted for the transaction. That authority may include limits on merchant, amount, product type, timing or other conditions. Merchants should avoid treating automated requests as inherently trustworthy.
Why this matters
Traditional payment authentication establishes whether a payment instrument is legitimate. Agentic commerce adds the question of whether software was authorized to make this particular decision.
What management should examine
- Agent identity.
- Customer authorization.
- Spending limits.
- Transaction records.
- Revocation.
What good looks like
The merchant can reconstruct who authorized the action and what authority existed if a transaction is later disputed.
Related questions and resources
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