Hecto Financial signed a memorandum of understanding with global fintech company t54 to cooperate on technology in AI agent payments. The two companies plan to review ways to link Hecto Financial's payment and settlement infrastructure with t54's transaction risk management technology.

Hecto Financial said on Oct. 27 the agreement was designed to explore the scope for cooperation between the two companies in AI agent payments. Areas covered include Hecto Financial's AI payment platform under development and t54's agent transaction risk management platform, Trustline.

The companies will first pursue a plan to apply a Know Your Agent, or KYA, function to Hecto Financial's AI payment platform. KYA extends the financial sector's Know Your Customer concept to AI agents and is a security and authentication technology that verifies an agent's identity, delegated authority and transaction appropriateness.

They will also discuss a plan to assess whether a transaction requested by an AI agent matches the user's intent and permitted scope before executing the payment. The companies plan to use working-level consultations to specify initial use cases, technical integration points and the scope of verification.

Hecto Financial previously joined the x402 ecosystem, which supports AI agents in conducting payments and transactions with stablecoins without human involvement. In June, it successfully completed a proof of concept for AI agent payment technology using Google's Agent Payments Protocol, or AP2, specification for AI agent payments.

Trustline, which t54 is seeking to cooperate on, is a platform that assesses an AI agent's identity, delegated authority and transaction context. The companies will also review ways to use the technology in the payment environment between merchants and AI agents, as well as the potential use of x402 and stablecoins.

Whether to join a beta program and the specific method of technical integration will be decided through future consultations.

Hecto Financial CEO Jong-won Choi (최종원) stressed, "We will raise the technical completeness of AI payment infrastructure and expand related businesses so domestic and foreign companies and merchants can effectively respond to an AI-based commerce environment."

Chandler Fang (챈들러 팡), co-founder of t54, said, "In agent payments, it is important to verify not only the payment method but also whether the authority granted to the agent matches the actual transaction details." He added, "Together with Hecto Financial, we will seek a trust framework that can be applied to existing payment infrastructure."