Regulators: AI agents should not authorize payments on their own

At GFF 2026 three regulators said AI agents may determine user intent but must not independently authorize payments. The architecture separates intent, authorization and settlement; MAS unveiled SAFR, a voluntary framework covering agent identity, authority and pre-execution controls.

• NPCI: agents determine intent but do not authorize payments themselves
• MAS introduced SAFR, a voluntary framework for agentic finance
• Meta Muse and Shopify Shop Pay use transaction-scoped credentials
• Coinbase for Agents caps research at 5 USDC via x402