How an operation gets its approval requirements
A pending operation is any request waiting on approvals — a withdrawal, a new trusted destination, or a change to your users, for example. Pending operations appear under Pending activity in the Anchorage Digital iOS app. When someone creates one, Anchorage Digital finds the rule that covers it in your vault policy or administrator policy, then saves that rule’s quorum — the eligible approvers and the number of approvals required — alongside the operation. Approvals are counted against that saved copy for as long as the operation exists. Editing your policy afterwards doesn’t touch the saved copy. The policy under Settings, then Policies, is what new operations will use. The saved copy is what the pending operation still uses. This keeps a policy edit from reducing the approvals an operation was created under, so an in-progress withdrawal always collects what your organization required when it was initiated.Seeing a pending operation and being able to approve it are two different things. Someone added to a rule after an operation was created will see that operation under Pending activity, but the app gives them no way to approve it.
What counts as a policy change
Three kinds of edit create a new version of your policy and leave pending operations on the requirements they were created with.- Quorum changes — raising or lowering the number of approvals required, or adding or removing a sub-quorum or a rule.
- Approver changes — adding someone to a rule’s Eligible approvers, removing someone, or changing a user’s permission level. A new administrator joining your organization counts too, since they’re added to the default rule.
- New iPhone enrollment — each user’s approval is tied to the iPhone they enrolled, and no other device can approve on their behalf. See Multi-user approval. Enrolling a replacement iPhone puts the new device into every quorum that user belongs to, while pending operations are still waiting on the old one.
Examples
You lower a quorum
Your vault policy requires 3 approvals from 3 approvers for withdrawals. A $5 million withdrawal is created on September 9. On September 12, you lower the rule to 2 of 3. Two approvers sign off on September 14, and the withdrawal stays pending. It still needs all 3 approvals, because that’s what the rule required on September 9. The new 2 of 3 quorum is in force for every withdrawal created after September 12. To clear this one, collect the third approval, or reject it and create it again.An approver enrolls a new iPhone
Same withdrawal, same 3 of 3 rule, created September 9. On September 17, one of the three approvers replaces their iPhone and enrolls it. The other two approve later that day, and the withdrawal sits at 2 of 3. This one can’t be completed. The saved copy is waiting on the approver’s old iPhone, which no longer has access, and their new iPhone was never part of it. Reject the withdrawal and create it again, and all three can approve from their current devices.You add an approver to a rule
Your administrator policy requires 2 approvals from 3 administrators. Someone adds a trusted destination on September 9. On September 12, you add a fourth administrator to that rule’s eligible approvers, making it 2 of 4. One administrator approves on September 14, and the request is still pending. The fourth administrator can see the request but can’t approve it. It still needs a second approval from the three administrators who were eligible on September 9.Getting a stuck operation moving
1
Work out who it's waiting on
Check when the operation was created, then look at the rule as it stood at that point, before any quorum changes, approver changes, or new iPhone enrollments since. Only those approvers count toward it. If you’re not sure, contact accountexecutive@anchorage.com and we can confirm who it’s waiting on.
2
Collect the remaining approvals, if you can
If everyone it needs is still using the iPhone they enrolled, the operation is simply waiting. Have them approve from Pending activity — see Approvals and quorum.
3
Otherwise, reject it and start again
If someone it needs has enrolled a new iPhone or left your organization, the operation can’t reach quorum. Any approver who was eligible when it was created can reject it in the app. If nobody on your team can, contact accountexecutive@anchorage.com and we can reject it for you.
4
Create and approve the replacement
The new operation picks up your current policy, including the change you just made. Follow the prompts to submit biometric approval — quorum approval is required.