Human in the Loop Design for AI Payment Operations

Operation	Automation Level	Rationale
Transaction lookup	Full auto	Read-only, no financial impact
Payment link creation	Full auto	Customer still chooses to pay; reversible
Subscription status check	Full auto	Read-only
Refund < NGN 5,000 (verified customer)	Auto with audit log	Low value, reversible
Refund > NGN 5,000	Human approval required	Material value, irreversible
Transfer to allowlist recipient	Human approval above threshold	Irreversible, financial impact
New recipient creation	Always human approval	Expands allowlist — high security impact
Bulk payout	Always human approval	Multiplied financial impact
Subscription cancellation	Human approval (churn opportunity)	Revenue impact, opportunity to retain

// Approval gate middleware — wraps any write tool
async function withApproval({ action, params, threshold, agentSessionId, channel = '#payments-approvals' }) {
  // Check if this action requires approval based on params
  var requiresApproval = action === 'transfer' && params.amount > threshold
    || action === 'refund' && params.amount > 5000_00
    || action === 'create_recipient'  // always requires approval
    || action === 'bulk_transfer';    // always requires approval

  if (!requiresApproval) {
    return { approved: true, auto: true };
  }

  // Queue for human approval
  var requestId = crypto.randomUUID();
  await db.pendingApprovals.insert({ requestId, action, params, agentSessionId, status: 'pending', created_at: new Date() });

  // Notify via Slack with interactive buttons
  await sendSlackInteractiveMessage(channel, {
    text: 'AI payment action requires approval',
    blocks: buildApprovalMessage(action, params, requestId),
  });

  // Poll for approval (max 30 minutes, then escalate)
  return new Promise((resolve) => {
    var pollInterval = setInterval(async () => {
      var record = await db.pendingApprovals.get(requestId);
      if (record.status === 'approved') {
        clearInterval(pollInterval);
        resolve({ approved: true, approvedBy: record.approved_by, auto: false });
      }
      if (record.status === 'rejected') {
        clearInterval(pollInterval);
        resolve({ approved: false, rejectedBy: record.rejected_by });
      }
    }, 5000);

    // Escalate after 30 minutes without decision
    setTimeout(() => {
      clearInterval(pollInterval);
      resolve({ approved: false, reason: 'approval_timeout' });
    }, 30 * 60 * 1000);
  });
}

See audit trails for AI financial actions for logging approved actions.

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