Payment Mandate

A payment mandate is a bounded authorization that lets an agent (or other automated party) initiate payments on a principal's behalf. It typically encodes amount caps, time windows, merchant or category allowlists, currency, and the rail or instrument that may be used—so spend can proceed without a fresh human approval for every transfer.

Why it Matters

Agentic checkout collapses if every purchase waits for a person. Mandates replace that bottleneck with explicit, machine-checkable policy. Merchants and wallets verify the mandate before authorizing; the platform records which mandate covered each posting.

Ledgers need the mandate ID as metadata on holds and settlements. When a transfer exceeds scope, fails mid-rail, or is disputed, operators replay the mandate against the books. That link between policy and double-entry postings is what keeps agent spend attributable and reversible within defined limits.