PBOC Vice Governor Lu Lei: Agent Payment Responsibility Boundaries Must Not Be Blurred; Self-Discipline Convention to Be Issued

According to Mobile Payment Network, Lu Lei, Member of the Party Committee and Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated at the 15th China Payment and Clearing Forum that agent payment must not blur the responsibility boundaries among consumers, participating institutions, and algorithmic systems. Lu Lei noted that payment is essentially a transfer of fund ownership rights, which objectively requires predictable transaction outcomes, clearly defined responsibilities, and traceable records. Large models and autonomous agents exhibit characteristics such as output randomness and opaque logic. Blindly or excessively granting transaction decision-making authority to agents could undermine the trust foundation for fund transactions. Current payment industry governance rules and dispute resolution mechanisms are built around the concept of "humans as the ultimate transaction decision-makers." The emerging model in which agents automatically initiate and assist with transactions easily blurs responsibility boundaries, necessitating the optimization and enhancement of existing governance frameworks.