Smart-Contract Call Protocol

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Introduction

In the current setup, Polus Payments leverages the benefits of decentralization by using blockchain for financial calculations and record-keeping. This approach offers transparency, immutability, and security to the payment process. Each transaction is recorded on the blockchain, ensuring a tamper-proof ledger that can be audited by anyone.

Despite the decentralized nature of financial transactions, the centralized aspect lies in the merchant's control over the delivery of goods or services. This means that there are no guarantees for customers regarding the receipt of their purchased items. In other words, if a customer makes a payment through Polus Payments and the merchant fails to deliver the product, there is no mechanism in place to ensure a refund or resolution. There are some options for solving this problem, which will be described from different angles in this document below.

Solution options

To address this limitation, it is essential to enhance the architecture of Polus Payments by integrating a decentralized escrow system. By incorporating an escrow mechanism into the payment flow, customers' funds can be held securely in a smart contract until the transaction is successfully completed. This approach will provide an added layer of trust and assurance for customers, mitigating the risk of non-delivery or fraud. By decentralizing the merchant's control over the payment process and introducing a smart contract-based escrow system, Polus Payments can significantly enhance the overall user experience and establish a more secure and reliable payment ecosystem. This improvement will instill confidence in customers, encourage broader adoption of the platform, and foster a fair and trustworthy environment for both buyers and sellers. Such a system can be provided by oracles with their own consensus protocol, which will confirm the receipt of goods. On the example of physical delivery of goods, the participants of such validation system can be postal and courier companies.

Another approach to address the issue of non-delivery or lack of guarantees in the Polus Payments system is to leverage the advantages of blockchain-based assets, such as tokens, NFTs, or any other record stored on the blockchain. By utilizing smart contracts, it becomes possible to deliver goods or services through these contracts when payment is received via Polus Payments. Once the payment is confirmed, the smart contract can trigger the release of the associated blockchain-based asset to the buyer. This mechanism ensures that the buyer receives the purchased item only when the payment has been successfully completed. If the conditions are not met, such as non-payment or cancellation, the funds can be returned to the buyer automatically, providing a level of protection and guarantee against potential fraud.