{"head":{"title":"What Is Maker-Checker (Four-Eyes Principle)? | OceanLab","description":"Maker-checker is a control where one person makes a change and another must approve it. Where it is used, how to build it into software, and pitfalls.","canonical":"https://oceanlab.in/glossary/maker-checker"},"crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"Glossary","path":"/glossary"},{"name":"maker-checker","path":"/glossary/maker-checker"}],"slug":"maker-checker","term":"Maker-checker (four-eyes principle)","aka":["four-eyes principle","dual control","segregation of duties"],"category":"Compliance","short":"A control where one person makes a change and a different person must approve it before it takes effect.","body":[["The maker prepares an action, such as a payout, a limit change, a new user role or a price update. The checker reviews it and approves or rejects it. Until it is approved, the action does not take effect."],["In software the important part is that the system enforces it: the same user cannot both make and approve, the approval is recorded with who, what and when, and the record cannot be edited afterwards."]],"why":["It stops a single mistake or a single bad actor from moving money or changing access on their own. Banks, payment firms and insurers use it widely, and auditors for frameworks like ",{"href":"/glossary/soc-2-type-ii","text":"SOC 2"}," look for segregation of duties on sensitive actions. It is also a natural pattern for ",{"href":"/glossary/human-in-the-loop","text":"human-in-the-loop"}," review of AI actions."],"example":["In a lending back office, an analyst can prepare a change to a customer's credit limit, but it only goes live once a team lead approves it. The audit log keeps both names, the old and new limit and the time of each step."],"inBuild":null,"mistakes":[["Letting admins approve their own changes, which quietly defeats the control."],["Rubber-stamp approvals with no detail shown to the checker."],["No expiry on pending changes, so stale requests get approved weeks later."]],"related":[{"href":"/glossary/human-in-the-loop","label":"Human-in-the-loop (HITL)","detail":"A design where a person reviews, corrects or approves what an AI system produces before it takes effect."},{"href":"/glossary/soc-2-type-ii","label":"SOC 2 Type II","detail":"An independent audit report on whether a service organisation's controls were designed well and worked over a period of time."},{"href":"/glossary/cardholder-data-environment","label":"Cardholder data environment (CDE)","detail":"The people, processes and systems that store, process or transmit payment card data, plus the systems connected to them."},{"href":"/glossary/guardrails","label":"Guardrails (AI)","detail":"Checks placed around an AI model that block, fix or flag unsafe, off-topic or incorrect inputs and outputs."}],"tools":[{"href":"/tools/soc-2-checklist","label":"SOC 2 checklist","detail":"Free tool"},{"href":"/tools/fintech-app-cost","label":"Fintech app cost","detail":"Free tool"}],"links":[{"href":"/compliance/soc-2","label":"SOC 2 guide","detail":"The controls behind a SOC 2 report."},{"href":"/compliance/pci-dss","label":"PCI DSS guide","detail":"Card data rules and how to shrink your scope."},{"href":"/software/banking","label":"Software for banking","detail":"Banking systems, controls and regulation."},{"href":"/software/payments","label":"Software for payments","detail":"Payment systems and the compliance work they bring."}],"sources":[],"legal":false,"updatedAt":"2026-10-25"}