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Agent Spending Policy

Governance controls for agent commerce and purchasing

MeetLoyd's Spending Policy provides granular control over how your AI agents can make purchases on behalf of your organization. This is critical for enterprises that want to enable agent autonomy while maintaining financial governance.

Overview​

The spending policy system allows you to:

  • Set spending limits at per-transaction, daily, weekly, and monthly levels
  • Require human approval for high-value or sensitive purchases
  • Block categories like gambling, adult content, or crypto
  • Restrict merchants to an approved list
  • Get notified when agents make purchases or hit limits
Key Concept

MeetLoyd is a governance layer, not a bank. We enforce policies and audit transactions—your organization's actual payment method (credit card, corporate account, etc.) handles the money.

Accessing Spending Policy Settings​

Navigate to Governance → Spending Policy in the dashboard.

Configuration Options​

Spending Limits​

Set maximum amounts agents can spend per period:

Limit TypeDescriptionExample
Per-TransactionMaximum for any single purchase$500
DailyMaximum total spending per day$1,000
WeeklyMaximum total spending per week$2,500
MonthlyMaximum total spending per month$5,000

These limits are cumulative across all agents in your tenant. When any limit is exceeded, the purchase is blocked.

Approval Requirements​

Configure when purchases require human approval before proceeding:

Amount Threshold

  • Set a dollar amount above which purchases need approval
  • Example: Any purchase over $250 requires approval

Categories

  • List merchant categories that always require approval
  • Example: travel, luxury, software subscriptions

New Merchants

  • Enable to require approval for first-time purchases from unknown merchants
  • Recommended for enterprises with strict vendor policies

Restrictions​

Blocked Categories

  • Purchases from these categories are automatically denied
  • Common blocks: gambling, adult, weapons, crypto

Merchant Allowlist

  • When enabled, only purchases from pre-approved merchants are allowed
  • Leave as "Allow all merchants" for flexibility, or restrict for strict control

Notifications​

Choose when and how to be notified:

Events:

  • On every purchase
  • When spending limit is reached
  • When approval is needed

Channels:

  • Email
  • Slack (requires Slack integration)
  • Webhook (custom endpoint)

Default Limits by Plan​

PlanPer-TransactionDailyWeeklyMonthlyApproval Threshold
Starter$100$250$500$1,000$50
Growth$500$1,000$2,500$5,000$250
Enterprise$10,000$50,000$100,000$500,000$5,000

Enterprise plans can configure custom limits above these defaults.

API Integration​

Get Current Policy​

GET /api/commerce/spending-policy

Response:

{
  "policy": {
    "enabled": true,
    "limits": {
      "perTransaction": { "amount": 500, "currency": "USD" },
      "daily": { "amount": 1000, "currency": "USD" },
      "weekly": { "amount": 2500, "currency": "USD" },
      "monthly": { "amount": 5000, "currency": "USD" }
    },
    "approvalRequired": {
      "aboveAmount": { "amount": 250, "currency": "USD" },
      "categories": ["travel", "luxury"],
      "newMerchants": true
    },
    "blockedCategories": ["gambling", "adult", "weapons"],
    "allowedMerchants": "*",
    "notifications": {
      "onPurchase": true,
      "onLimitReached": true,
      "onApprovalNeeded": true,
      "channels": ["email", "slack"]
    }
  }
}

Update Policy​

PUT /api/commerce/spending-policy
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "limits": {
    "perTransaction": { "amount": 1000, "currency": "USD" }
  },
  "approvalRequired": {
    "aboveAmount": { "amount": 500, "currency": "USD" }
  }
}

Check Agent Spending Limits​

GET /api/commerce/spending-limits/agent_xxx

Response:

{
  "limits": {
    "perTransaction": 500,
    "dailyRemaining": 750,
    "weeklyRemaining": 2100,
    "monthlyRemaining": 4500
  }
}

Pre-check a Purchase​

Before initiating a purchase, check if it would be allowed:

POST /api/commerce/policy-check
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "agentId": "agent_xxx",
  "amount": { "amount": 299.99, "currency": "USD" },
  "merchant": "Acme Software Inc",
  "merchantCategory": "software"
}

Response (allowed):

{
  "result": {
    "allowed": true
  }
}

Response (requires approval):

{
  "result": {
    "allowed": false,
    "requiresApproval": true,
    "approvalRequestId": "apr_xxx",
    "reason": "Amount exceeds approval threshold — awaiting human approval"
  }
}

Audit Trail​

All agent commerce activity is logged in the audit trail:

  • Purchase attempts (allowed and denied)
  • Policy changes (who changed what, when)
  • Approval requests (pending, approved, rejected)
  • Limit events (when limits are reached)

Access via Governance → Spending Policy → History or the Audit Logs page.

Commerce Statistics​

The Spending Policy dashboard shows real-time statistics:

  • Total Transactions: Count of completed purchases
  • Total Amount: Sum of all purchase amounts
  • Unique Merchants: Number of different merchants used
  • Policy Status: Whether policy is active or inactive

Best Practices​

For Startups​

  • Start with default limits
  • Enable "new merchant" approvals
  • Block gambling and adult categories
  • Set up email notifications

For Enterprises​

  • Define strict category blocks aligned with procurement policy
  • Require approval for any purchase above team manager's spending authority
  • Configure webhook notifications to integrate with finance systems
  • Consider merchant allowlists for production environments

For Regulated Industries​

  • Enable all notifications
  • Set conservative limits
  • Require approval for all categories above minimal threshold
  • Block all non-essential categories
  • Integrate with SIEM via webhook for compliance monitoring