Commerce and payments
When agents shop, the merchant has to decide whether to accept the order. What counts is not only who is asking, but whether this purchase was allowed.
In short
Merchants use KYA to verify whether an agent was allowed to buy on its customer's behalf – already today with Mastercard Verifiable Intent and Web Bot Auth.
Typical agent actions
- Orders within a budget and at permitted merchants
- Recurring purchases such as subscriptions or reorders
- Bookings of travel, tickets and services
- Content retrieval by agents with payment intent
Which checks decide
| Check | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Integrity and issuer | Does the evidence come from the stated payment network or service? |
| Agent and principal | Is the agent bound to the customer who pays? |
| Scope | Is the amount within range, is the merchant permitted? |
| Delegation | Is the chain from customer to executing agent unbroken? |
| Execution binding | Does the payment match the cart the merchant signed? |
Example flow
- The customer sets limits: amount range, permitted merchants, items.
- The agent chooses the offer and creates the final values within these limits.
- Merchant and network verify their respective view; with Verifiable Intent these are two separate checks.
- In a dispute, the KYA certificate shows what is proven and what is not.
Implementation
KYA already verifies Mastercard Verifiable Intent and signed requests according to Web Bot Auth. Own mandates and decisions before execution are issued, for example, by the reference implementation Mandact from the operator of KYA.
Typical scenarios
Business reorders: a purchasing agent orders supplies from approved suppliers within a budget. Personal shopping: an agent buys tickets, clothing or groceries for a customer according to her preferences. Subscriptions: an agent renews or cancels subscriptions within a mandate.
For merchants, every scenario is a chance for revenue and at the same time a risk if the agent was not authorized. The article Agentic commerce explained describes the flow in detail.
Recognize agents instead of blocking them
Bot protection today mainly distinguishes between human and machine. With agents, the question shifts: which machine acts on behalf of a real customer? Signed requests following Web Bot Auth answer the first part, and evidence such as Verifiable Intent or a mandate the second.
Merchants can thus define a rule that lets legitimate agents through and rejects abuse, instead of blocking all automated access.
One rule for all agents
Instead of maintaining separate rules for every approach, merchants can define one rule for all agents, for example: “Purchases up to CHF 50 with a signed agent, above that only with a proven mandate and checked revocation, above CHF 500 also with human approval.” KYA maps the supported approaches onto the same levels, so the rule applies regardless of the approach.
What merchants can do today
Even without major changes, first steps are possible. Merchants can recognize signed requests from known agents and handle them separately, tie purchases above a threshold to proof of authority and keep evidence of agent purchases together with the order. The browser is enough for verification at first; as volume grows, the engine can be integrated into checkout as a package.
Frequently asked questions
Should my online shop allow AI agents?
Agents bring new customers. It makes sense to recognize signed agents and to tie purchases above a threshold to verifiable proof of authority.
What does a merchant check for an agent purchase?
Whether the agent is known, which customer it acts for, whether the purchase lies within the permitted limits and whether those limits are still valid.
Does KYA help with chargebacks?
Evidence showing mandate, decision and receipt makes clarification considerably easier. How a chargeback is decided is governed by the payment networks.
Which data does a merchant need for verification?
The evidence the agent presents and the public keys of the issuers the merchant trusts. Personal data is disclosed only to the extent the evidence provides for.
How do I recognize which agents shop with me?
By signed requests following Web Bot Auth or the Trusted Agent Protocol. The signature points to the agent's operator, whose public keys you provide. Unsigned traffic remains unknown as before and is handled according to your existing rules.