> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.atum.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Who owns what

> What Atum secures versus what payment and settlement providers own in the network.

Atum coordinates the payment network. Each participant owns their layer.

* **You (payment provider)** — own the customer relationship, authorization, UX, and (per payment) which settlement providers may fulfill the request, by identity
* **Atum** — owns orchestration, routing, and settlement coordination; applies the settlement-provider list you put on the request, and applies credential-type and issuer trust from its own list
* **Settlement providers** — own liquidity, pricing, and settlement execution

## Responsibility matrix

|                             | You                                                | Atum                                                     | Settlement provider                           |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Onboard customers           | ✅ Own your customers and business relationship     | —                                                        | —                                             |
| Verify identity             | ✅ Maintain your credentials                        | ✅ Verify attached credentials against Atum's issuer list | ✅ Maintain your credentials                   |
| Choose settlement providers | ✅ Optional per-payment allow/deny by identity      | ✅ Apply those constraints                                | —                                             |
| Authorize payment           | ✅ Create the request and obtain user authorization | —                                                        | —                                             |
| Validate request            | —                                                  | ✅ Validate and check compliance                          | —                                             |
| Route the payment           | —                                                  | ✅ Route requests to settlement providers                 | —                                             |
| Price the route             | —                                                  | —                                                        | ✅ Submit price quotes for supported corridors |
| Execute settlement          | —                                                  | ✅ Protocol coordination                                  | ✅ Settlement execution                        |
| Track status                | —                                                  | ✅ Lifecycle tracking and status APIs                     | ✅ Send delivery events                        |
| Reconcile                   | ✅ Reconcile against your ledgers                   | —                                                        | ✅ Reconcile settlements                       |
| Operate infrastructure      | ✅ Your apps, keys, environments                    | ✅ Network services and monitoring                        | ✅ Settlement agent, keys, vaults              |

## Where the boundary sits

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TB
    subgraph you["You"]
        A[App, signing, UX, idempotency]
    end

    subgraph boundary["API boundary"]
        B([Signed payment request])
    end

    subgraph atum["Atum"]
        C[Validate → route → select → track]
    end

    subgraph settler["Settlement provider"]
        D[Quote → execute → deliver → confirm]
    end

    you --> boundary --> atum
    atum <--> settler
```

## Areas that need both sides

These require correct behavior from both sides:

* **Compliance** — Atum verifies attached [identity credentials](/get-started/identity/overview) at the gateway; you onboard participants accurately and keep credentials current.
* **Asset identifiers** — Atum publishes chain defaults; you must use the correct asset identifiers for each corridor
* **Async settlement** — Past the \~30s synchronous window Atum reports pending; you collect the outcome by [re-attempting the same purchase](/payment-protocols/idempotency) (or, out of band, reading `/status` by `payment_id`)
* **Testnet vs production** — Atum hosts the Payment Gateway; you bring accounts, tokens, and funding

## Next steps

* [Network participants](/get-started/concepts/participants) — who plays each role
* [What is Atum ID?](/get-started/identity/overview) — Known to Atum vs credentials you bring
* [Policy enforcement](/get-started/concepts/policy-enforcement) — identity lists you set vs credential-type trust Atum applies
* [Know Your Agent](/get-started/identity/know-your-agent) — who is answerable when software spends
* [Atum payment lifecycle](/get-started/overview/how-an-atum-payment-works) — the five stages end to end
* [Payment Gateway API](/api-reference/payment-gateway/introduction) — the API boundary