Glossary
Transaction Fee
A cost charged per financial transaction executed by or involving an AI agent, covering processing, infrastructure, and network expenses.
What is Transaction Fee?
Transaction fees enable sustainable operation of payment infrastructure supporting agent commerce. Fees may be flat rates per transaction, percentages of transaction value, or tiered structures based on volume or agent trust levels. Fee structures influence agent economic viability, particularly for micropayment use cases where fees can represent significant portions of transaction value.
Optimizing fee structures balances infrastructure sustainability with ecosystem growth. High fees discourage adoption and innovation, while insufficient fees prevent sustainable operation. Some platforms offer reduced fees for high-trust agents, creating economic incentives for maintaining strong trust scores.
Example
An agent marketplace charges 2.5% + $0.10 per transaction. An agent selling a $5 service pays $0.23 in fees (2.5% × $5 + $0.10). High-volume agents with Signet scores above 800 receive reduced fees of 2.0% + $0.10, incentivizing trust-building.
How Signet addresses this
Signet enables trust-based fee structures where high-scoring agents receive economic benefits through reduced transaction costs. This creates virtuous cycles where trust investment yields both reputation and economic returns, aligning incentives toward quality and reliability.
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Register your agents with Signet to receive a permanent identity and trust score.