For Settlement Partners
A briefing for RTP networks, banks, and payment infrastructure operators evaluating AURA as a counterparty.
AURA Defines The Market, Not The Rail
AURA is a market protocol for agentic commerce. It defines how autonomous buyer and seller agents discover each other, negotiate terms, and commit to transactions. The clearinghouse prices bilateral risk, holds reserves, and enforces obligations. AURA does not move money. A settlement partner does.
This is the same separation that exists in every major financial market. The exchange matches trades. The clearinghouse validates and nets them. The settlement bank moves the funds. Each function has its own counterparty relationships and its own regulatory posture. AURA is the market and clearing layer for agent-mediated commerce. It needs a settlement partner for the payment layer.
The rest of this page describes what a settlement partnership with AURA looks like: the interface, the commercial model, the regulatory posture, and the current state of the protocol specification.
Settlement Instructions In, Proof Of Settlement Back
When a transaction is cleared and authorised, the AURA clearinghouse generates a settlement instruction. The instruction is Ed25519-signed by the clearinghouse, carries a canonical payload with amount, parties, timing, risk authorisation, and a chain reference linking to the commitment hash. The instruction is idempotent, retry-safe, and routed to the rail adapter.
The rail executes. The rail returns a proof of settlement. The proof is rail-signed, non-repudiable, and carries a finality type (irrevocable or provisional). AURA verifies the proof against five checks: signature, amount, correlation to the original instruction, finality type, and timeliness. Only a valid proof advances the clearing state. No proof, no state transition.
AURA never touches funds. The rail's internal mechanics are opaque to AURA. The interface is specified in the protocol documentation as a clean contract: instruction in, proof back.
- Instruction payload: amount, currency, parties, execute-by timestamp, risk authorisation ID, commitment hash reference
- Signing: Ed25519 signature by the clearinghouse, using a key dedicated to settlement (separate from the protocol identity key)
- Idempotency: every instruction carries a unique ID; retries are safe
- Proof verification: signature, amount match, correlation, finality type, timeliness
- Per-rail finality: the clearing lifecycle handles irrevocable (RTP, FedNow) and provisional (card, ACH) finality types
Counterparty, Not Competitor
AURA's revenue comes from clearinghouse fees and float investment. It does not compete with a settlement partner on payment economics. The partner earns its normal rail economics on every transaction AURA settles through it. AURA brings demand volume; the partner brings the payment rail and regulatory standing.
For an RTP network operator, AURA represents a new demand source: agent-mediated transactions that would otherwise settle through card rails with higher friction and higher chargeback exposure. Irrevocable real-time settlement is the better fit for agentic commerce because the clearing model depends on deterministic finality, and AURA's clearinghouse can price risk more accurately when finality is known.
- AURA is not a money transmitter and does not hold customer funds
- Settlement economics accrue to the partner on every transaction
- AURA prices risk into the transaction margin, reducing counterparty risk for the partner
- Volume-based commercial structure possible as the protocol scales
Market Operator, Not Money Transmitter
AURA's regulatory positioning is as a market operator and technology provider. The clearinghouse validates transactions and enforces protocol-level obligations; it does not take possession of customer funds. Settlement is the exclusive domain of the licensed payment partner. This separation is deliberate and mirrors the structure of established financial markets.
Several open questions remain and will be resolved in consultation with the settlement partner and regulators in the target jurisdiction. These include clearing entity jurisdiction, minimum reserve size, and treatment under evolving agentic commerce guidance from payment network regulators. The protocol is designed to be configurable to different regulatory regimes through Market Profiles, which set jurisdiction-specific parameters for commitment windows, dispute periods, and identity requirements.
- AURA operates the market and clearinghouse; the partner operates the payment rail
- No handling or custody of customer funds by AURA
- Market Profiles configure protocol parameters for different regulatory jurisdictions
- Clearing entity jurisdiction selection is an open design decision
Protocol Specified, Integration Partnership Open
Protocol version 2.2 is complete. The specification covers identity (credential-based trust framework), commerce (session lifecycle, offer ranking, disclosure projection), financial layer (clearinghouse, settlement rails, dispute resolution), and reference (API, schemas, error codes). The modular specification runs to approximately 5,000 lines of protocol text plus supporting architecture documents.
The core commerce flow is implemented and running. The financial layer is specified but not yet deployed. The next step is selecting a settlement partner to build the first rail adapter against. The rail adapter contract is specified in the Settlement Rails architecture document: five operations (submit, status, cancel, verify, capabilities) against a standardised interface. An initial integration targeting a single rail could be live in weeks rather than months.
- Protocol v2.2 complete; commerce flow live; financial layer specified
- Rail adapter contract standardised, ready for partner implementation
- Developer portal with full specification available to authenticated users
- Technical deep-dive and commercial discussion available on request
Why This Matters For Settlement Partners
New Volume, Same Rail
Agent-mediated commerce routes through the same rails that carry traditional payments. A settlement partnership with AURA brings new transaction volume to an existing infrastructure investment.
Lower Risk Profile
The clearinghouse prices bilateral risk before settlement. Unauthorised transactions are rejected at the clearing stage, before a payment instruction is ever issued. Settlement partners see cleaner volume.
Cryptographic Audit Trail
Every settlement instruction is signed and linked back to the original buyer intent via a seven-link cryptographic chain. Disputes can be resolved against verifiable evidence rather than contested logs.
Irrevocable Rails Favoured
The protocol is designed around deterministic finality. Real-time irrevocable rails (RTP, FedNow) carry lower risk margins and faster clearing cycles than provisional rails.
Clean Separation
AURA operates the market and clearing layer. The partner operates the payment rail. Each entity has its own counterparty relationships and its own regulatory posture, mirroring established financial market structure.
Ecosystem Interoperability
AURA settlement instructions can route through any rail that implements the standardised adapter contract: direct integration, ICC hub, MPP, x402, and traditional card networks all fit the same interface.
Start The Conversation
For a technical deep-dive or a commercial discussion about settlement partnership, get in touch. The protocol specification, settlement rails architecture, and clearinghouse design are available in the developer portal.