Selling to AI agents: what merchants need to know about x402 checkout, mandates, and chargeback-free settlement

Short summary

x402 is an HTTP-native payment protocol enabling AI agents to make programmatic purchases without human-mediated payment flows. Merchants must cryptographically verify agent mandates (scoped authorizations for spending) and execute a strict four-step verification gate before capturing funds. This architecture shifts payment security from behavioral fraud signals to machine-readable authorization verification with non-custodial settlement.

• •x402 replaces human-driven checkout with agent-initiated programmatic requests and on-chain stablecoin settlement
• •Mandate verification (cryptographic authorization checks) is essential before fund capture to prevent fraud
• •Payment verification order matters: verify mandate → check replay → evaluate reputation → apply policy

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.