Visa introduced its Trusted Agent Protocol to help merchants tell legitimate AI agents acting for consumers apart from malicious bots. It identifies the agent, and the person behind it is taken as given.
Visa, "Visa Introduces Trusted Agent Protocol: An Ecosystem-Led Framework for AI Commerce" (press release), October 14, 2025Artificial intelligence
Agent protocols name the agent.Know Your Agent names the person behind it.
Passive signals watch every account that runs an agent, and when an action needs it, its person confirms a live, unique human with an anonymous 3 second selfie and no ID.
The problem
What an agent's account doesn't tell you
- Booking agentShopping agentSupport agentSame person
One person, a hundred agents
Each agent signs up under its own email, so one person collects a hundred free tiers and a hundred rate limits while you count a hundred customers.
- No face behind itIncoming requestCheckout stepNo agent protocolAutomated patternFlagged
Agents that won't say what they are
A declared agent names itself. An undeclared one looks like an ordinary user, with nothing to show a person stands behind it.
- Same faceBanned acct_2291New acct_3410
Banned, then back
You ban someone and they return behind a new agent, email or API key, looking like a first-time builder.
How it works
Know Your Agent, built into your platform
01
Passive signals score every account
Device, network and behavior signals run in the background on every account that runs an agent, and build its history: past scores and how many new accounts a device has made today.
02
Its person proves a live, unique human
When the signals flag risk, or an action you chose needs it, we send a link back through the agent. Its person taps it and takes an anonymous HumanCheck, about 3 seconds and no ID, and the agent carries on.
03
One human, every agent it runs
Each verified person is bound to the agents they register, so limits count people and an agent's actions trace back to one live human. Ban the person, and their next account meets the same face.
Builder 34106 new accounts today · 2 agents registeredElevated
The platform
Passive defenses first, proof of human when it counts.
Why now
Agent protocols skip the human
Put one action behind the check, like registering a new agent. A free pilot shows you how many agents reach it and how many trace back to the same person.
A solution for every scenario
Let's talk trust
Start with a free pilot: see what the check catches on your own users, with no dev work to begin.
With tools like VerifyYou, AI becomes a force for good. It helps prevent AI-driven fraud and can be done with much lower friction than what we built over the years.
Built by humans from
- Quora
- Square
- Gusto
- Cohere Health
- Accenture
Security
Privacy and security in every decision
We keep a face code, not the photo, and hold it under SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 compliant controls.
No images stored. VerifyYou does not store images.
No ID or documents. HumanCheck anonymously confirms there is a real, live, unique person, with no name or ID.
A face code, not a photo. We treat it as sensitive biometric data.
SOC 2 Type II
ISO 27001:2022
ISO/IEC 30107-3 PAD Level 1 & 2
GDPR compliant
Common questions
Is Know Your Agent the same as bot blocking?
No. Know Your Agent is for an AI agent acting for a real person. It proves the live, unique human behind that agent and ties the agent's actions to them. Bots posing as people belong to Signup protection.
How is this different from the agent protocols?
Those protocols say which agent is acting and what it's allowed to do, and they assume a real person authorized it. Know Your Agent confirms that person is real, live and unique, and plugs in alongside those protocols or runs on its own.
Can one person still run a hundred agents?
That's your policy to set. Agents registered by a verified person are bound to them, so you can count agents per person and cap them wherever makes sense for you.
Does it slow down legitimate builders?
Passive signals run first, and most accounts never see a check. Only the ones your signals flag, or the actions you choose, ask the person behind the agent for an anonymous 3 second selfie.
What happens when we ban someone?
The ban lands on the person, not just the agent. Their next account, email or key meets the same face.
Do you learn who the person behind the agent is?
No. You learn there's a live, unique human behind the agent and whether they've verified with you before. Their name, face and personal details never reach you.
Do you store photos of our users?
No. We keep a face code, not your users' images.
How much work is it to add?
It's two API calls: one to start the check and one to read the result.
Do we have to replace our KYC or bot tools?
No. It sits on top of your stack, so you keep your KYC and bot tools.
What does it cost?
It's 50 to 100 times cheaper than KYC. You pay per check, and nobody uploads an ID document.
Resources
Keep learning
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Case study
AI data labeling
$150,000 in fraud loss, stopped within 3 weeks of starting.
Read how it was caught
Ready to get started?
VerifyYou scales trust: passive signals on every session, a face check only when risk calls for it.
