KYA (Know Your Agent)

KYA (Know Your Agent) is the set of controls used to identify, verify, and continuously assess software agents that initiate financial activity. It extends classic KYC (Know Your Customer) to cover agent identity, the human or organization that owns the agent, the policies the agent may act under, and the evidence trail required for compliance and dispute resolution.

Why it Matters

An agent that can pay is a new kind of actor. Treating it as an anonymous API key loses the link to beneficial ownership, spend limits, and AML monitoring. KYA binds agent credentials to a principal, documents what the agent is allowed to do, and feeds those attributes into risk engines and ledgers.

Operationally, KYA shows up as agent registries, mandate scopes, wallet enrollment, and monitoring of anomalous agent spend. Without it, platforms cannot answer basic questions after a chargeback or SAR: which agent paid, on whose behalf, under which approved policy, and with which funding source.