Agent spending limits
Agent spending limits are caps applied to payments an AI agent initiates — typically per transaction, per day, and per month. They are set by the account owner and layered by scope: an account-wide ceiling, tighter budgets per agent, and per-authorization caps a customer sets on an agent acting for them. When several limits apply to one payment, the tightest governs. A payment that breaches a limit is not silently dropped — it holds for human approval, and settles only if someone releases it.
By Krisan Nichani, Chief Compliance OfficerLast updated August 2026
Where the limit is enforced matters more than its number. A cap that lives in the agent’s application code is a suggestion — a bug, a prompt injection, or a leaked credential can route around it. A cap the platform enforces below the agent binds no matter what the software does. The failure mode is designed to keep workflows alive: a breaching payment returns cleanly, no money moves, and the instruction waits as an approval for a person to release or deny.
Limits bound size; they do not judge intent — a payment inside every cap can still be the wrong payment. On Infinite the two controls run together: the funded balance and account structure cap exposure, while counterparty screening and transaction monitoring evaluate every instruction, agent-initiated included, before funds move.
Frequently asked questions
What happens when an agent payment exceeds its limit?
On well-designed platforms it holds rather than fails: the API accepts the instruction, no funds move, and the payment waits as an approval for a human to release or deny. The agent’s workflow continues; the edge case becomes a review item. Human-in-the-loop approval
Where should agent spending limits be enforced?
Below the agent — at the account or platform layer. A limit inside the agent’s code disappears with the next bug or injected prompt. The strongest form is structural: a dedicated account funded only with the agent’s budget, where the balance itself is the cap.
Do spending limits replace screening and monitoring?
No. Limits cap how much can move; screening and monitoring decide whether a specific payment should move at all. A transfer within every limit can still hit a sanctioned counterparty or an unusual pattern — both checks have to run. Sanctions screening
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