The Materiality Router asks one question before every action: how much does this transaction matter? The answer (L1–L4) decides how much compute effort and verification to spend. Higher materiality = harder to undo = more effort + a consequence gate.
Materiality= the weight of an action: its cost, its risk, and how hard it is to reverse. A balance check is weightless. Signing an Aadhaar mandate is heavy.
Passive — no transaction (implied baseline · not a router state on the page)
Opening the app, scrolling, looking. Nothing changes, nothing is spent.
Effort: none
Cost: $0
Reversible: fully (nothing happened)
Example Launch the app and stare at the home screen.
L1
INFORMATIONAL
Read-only lookup
You ask, the system tells. No money moves, no state changes.
Route: T0 only (on-device)
Cost: $0
Reversible: n/a — nothing to undo
Example “What’s my balance?” — answered instantly, no narration needed.
L2
NAVIGATIONAL
Small, routine, known
A tiny everyday money move to someone/something already known. Low stakes.
Route: T0 → T1 cache
Cost: ~$0 (cache lookup)
Reversible: low impact if wrong
Examples P2P send under ₹500 · scan a P2M shop QR to pay.
L3
TRANSACTIONAL
Real money, larger or unknown party
A meaningful payment, or a payee the system isn’t sure about. Worth a closer look.
Route: T0 → T1/T2 (cache, fall back to live)
Cost: $0–$0.01
Reversible: hard once sent
Examples P2P over ₹5,000 to an unknown payee · add a beneficiary · place an ONDC order.
L4
CONSEQUENTIAL
Irreversible & high-stakes
Granting standing authority or signing something you can’t take back. Maximum care.
Route: T0 → T1/T2 → CAS gate
Cost: ~$0.01–$0.03 (max effort)
Reversible: no — locked once confirmed
Examples NACH mandate · UPI AutoPay setup · eKYC / Aadhaar digital sign · credit-line activation · token lock (Finternet).
One person, climbing the ladder
Sunita (migrant worker) opens her wallet app. Watch the materiality rise — and the router respond.
L0
She opens the app and looks around.Nothing happens. No cost, nothing to undo.
L1
“How much do I have?” → balance shown.Read-only. Answered on-device, free.
L2
Sends ₹200 to her usual tea stall via QR.Small + known → quick cache lookup, ~$0.
L3
Sends ₹8,000 to a new landlord she hasn’t paid before.Big + unknown → cache, then verify live. Harder to undo.
L4
Sets up a recurring UPI AutoPay for monthly rent.Standing, irreversible authority → max effort + CAS gate before it locks.
T0 / T1 / T2 — effort tiers
How hard the system works to answer. T0 = on-device (cheapest), T1 = cache lookup, T2 = live verification (most effort). Higher materiality pulls in higher tiers.
CAS gate — consequence check
The stop sign at L4. Before an irreversible action, the system surfaces “what happens if you proceed” and forces an explicit confirm or decline.