// GLOSSARY -- AGENTIC FINANCE
What is a Payment Attestation?
A cryptographic proof that an agent payment was authorized and policy-compliant, verifiable by third parties without accessing internal policy configuration.
WHY IT MATTERS
In A2A commerce, receivers need assurance payments are legitimate — not from rogue agents. Attestations provide this.
Encode: payer identity, policy approval, transaction parameters, timestamp. Any counterparty verifies without accessing payer internals.
Builds trust in the agent economy — not just "payment happened" but "payment was authorized by a policy engine."
HOW POLICYLAYER USES THIS
PolicyLayer issues attestations proving policy compliance — verifiable by any counterparty for trust in agent transactions.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who issues attestations?
The policy engine (PolicyLayer) that authorized the transaction. The attestation is cryptographically signed with PolicyLayer's key.
How are they verified?
Using PolicyLayer's public key. Any counterparty can verify the signature without accessing the payer's policy configuration.
Standard format?
PolicyLayer attestations follow emerging standards compatible with EAS (Ethereum Attestation Service) and W3C Verifiable Credentials.