Payments glossary
AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol)
AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol) is an open protocol for authorising payments made by AI agents. Cryptographically signed mandates prove a human gave the agent authority for a purchase - what it may buy, for how much - creating a verifiable trail for agent-initiated payments.
The problem AP2 solves
When an AI agent buys something, the hard question is not moving the money - it is proving anyone asked for the purchase. A merchant accepting an agent's order needs to know a real customer stands behind it; a bank fielding a dispute needs evidence of what was approved. AP2 supplies that evidence as a chain of accountability: human to mandate, mandate to agent, agent to purchase.
How AP2 mandates work
When a user delegates a task, the agent receives an intent mandate - a signed record of what it has been asked to achieve and within what limits. When a purchase is ready, a cart mandate records approval of the specific items and price, either confirmed by the human or pre-authorised within the intent's bounds. These credentials travel with the payment, so the merchant and payment providers can verify authority before accepting, and everyone holds the same evidence if the transaction is later questioned.
AP2 in the agentic payments stack
AP2 governs authorisation and sits alongside execution protocols such as x402 and the existing card rails; it was developed in the open with broad industry participation. LekkaPay's agentic payments work - in development - is described at /agentic/.
Frequently asked questions
What is a mandate in AP2?
A signed, tamper-evident digital record of the user's instruction. An intent mandate captures the shopping brief - say, flights to Cape Town under R5,000.00 - while a cart mandate captures approval of a specific purchase. Together they prove the agent acted within its authority.
Does AP2 replace x402?
No - they are complementary layers. AP2 answers whether the agent was authorised to buy; x402 handles how a payment executes over HTTP. An agentic purchase can carry AP2 mandates while settling over x402, card rails or another supported method.
Why do agent payments need their own authorisation protocol?
Existing rails assume either that the cardholder is present or that the merchant holds a standing mandate. A shopping agent is neither. Without verifiable proof of delegation, every agent purchase looks like fraud and every dispute becomes unresolvable.
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