Ask first.Charge after.

The gate sits in your checkout. For AI-agent bookings, your payment provider holds the money and waits. It's taken only after the customer's permission checks out.

Starting…

Spotted.An AI agent reaches checkout. We read its signed check (Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Agent Pay or Web Bot Auth), so you know which agent it is and who it's booking for. 14:02:04

Held.Your payment provider holds the money but doesn't take it yet. 14:02:05

Checked.We compare the booking with what she allowed: her saved rules or her signed instruction to the agent. Price, dates, room type, cancellation terms. 14:02:06

Approved.Clearly inside her rules: approved silently. Unclear ("free cancellation" not confirmed) or outside them: a text link to her phone, and she approves this exact booking with Face ID. 14:02:09

Sealed.Her approval, the booking, the price and what the agent was shown are sealed together before any money moves. 14:02:12

Paid.The hotel takes the payment and confirms the stay. 14:02:14

Proven.If she questions the charge, the sealed record is ready for her bank, so it can be answered before it becomes a dispute. 19 Nov

Didn't approve? The hold is released and she is never charged. No refund, no dispute, no fee.

Set up once.

The businessTurns on the gate through its payment provider, or adds our checkout step. Agent payments are held at checkout and taken later. The gate reads supported agent signatures, such as Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Agent Pay and Web Bot Auth.
The customerOptional. She creates a passkey, sets rules such as up to $350 a booking, no non-refundable rates, these businesses, and links her card. Her passkey signs a permission for her agent to book within them.

Two separate checks.

Who is the agent?A supported signature shows which agent sent the checkout. On its own, it says nothing about what the customer allowed.
What did she allow?Checked on every order, against her instruction, her saved permission, or a new approval.

Four ways to yes.

1
Signed instruction
A supported network flow sends verifiable customer authorization for this order.
She sees
No additional approval prompt from us.
Kept
The instruction and the check result.
2
Saved rules
She set up the app, the card is the one she linked, and the booking fits her rules.
She sees
No additional approval prompt from us.
Kept
Her signed rules and this booking's decision.
3
Exception
She has the app, but the booking is over her limit, a non-refundable rate, or at a business she didn't list.
She sees
A request in her app to approve this exact booking.
Kept
A new approval for this booking.
4
First time
No usable permission on file, or the match is unclear, such as free cancellation not confirmed.
She sees
An approval link. She creates a passkey, approves this booking, and can save rules.
Kept
A new approval, and her rules if she saved them.

"No additional approval prompt from us" means none from the gate. Her bank may still run its own checks. Automatic approvals seal the instruction or permission they relied on. No new customer signature is made up.

Try the gate.

Agent: YesVerified. This tells us which agent it is, nothing more.
Permission: Needs herShe has saved rules, but this seat upgrade is $410.00, over her $350 limit.
Decision: Needs herAsk her in the app to approve this exact booking.
Payment: Authorized, not capturedHer bank may show a pending charge. The gate waits up to 24 hours for her answer.

A request in her app: approve this booking with Face ID.

Illustrative states. No payment, message or network call is made.

Never captured early.

On holdAuthorized, not captured. Her bank may show a pending charge while the gate waits.
She approvesHer approval is checked, the business takes the payment, and the booking is confirmed once that succeeds.
She declinesThe booking is cancelled and the payment provider is asked to release the hold. Her bank decides when the pending charge disappears.
24 hours passTreated as a decline. 24 hours is our deadline, not a card network rule.
No signatureNo agent signature, or one we don't support: a normal order, and the gate stays out of the way. Agents that don't sign are not covered.
Bad signatureThe checkout is stopped and nothing is captured.

Sealed before capture.

D1 = SHA-256(agent's request, permission, booking, hold)before payment

D2 = SHA-256(D1, capture)after, with the transaction id

A fingerprint is a hash: change one character of the record and it no longer matches. The capture result can't exist before capture, so it is appended in D2. The ledger holds fingerprints only, never the records or card data.

If the charge is questioned.

While she's askingPlanned: share supported purchase and approval details through participating issuer channels, such as Visa's Order Insight from Verifi and Mastercard's Ethoca Consumer Clarity, via partners enrolled in them.
If it becomes a chargebackPlanned: export the record to your dispute workflow. A sample JSON file works now.
Who decidesHer bank. Her refund and dispute rights are unchanged.

What each signature covers.

AgentSigns its checkout request. Not what the customer asked it to do.
BusinessSigns the booking as the agent was shown it. Not what the agent showed the customer.
CustomerApproves the exact booking, or signs her rules in advance. Not who was holding the phone.
Card networkVouches for her instruction, where a supported flow sends one. Not what the agent showed her.
LedgerRecords when the fingerprint was logged. Not whether the data is accurate.

What no record can prove.

IntentThe approved size is on record. What the customer meant is not.
Who approvedA first approval shows control of the contact and the new passkey, not ownership of the card.
DeceptionA valid signature can't show whether the signer was misled.
DeliveryThat needs separate evidence, such as carrier records.
AccuracyThe ledger shows when a record existed, not whether it's accurate.

Set up once.

Two separate checks.

Four ways to yes.

Signed instruction

Saved rules