One of our core values at Artega is transparency. Sounds odd for a privacy-first organisation, however without transparency about how your data is used and your money moves, how can you know what you’re doing is really private?
In an era where we click a few buttons or tap pieces of plastic on top of each other it can feel like we’re just handing coins in our pocket over for a decaf oat latte, but actually what is going on under the hood is complex and many people are tracking what you do, compiling the data and using it for…. who knows what.
It’s called Payment Processing.
How many organisations are involved in ‘default’ payment processing?
Merchants: The businesses or individuals selling products or services online. (e.g. Martha's Cafe)
Payment gateway: The service that securely transmits payment information from the customer to the payment processor (e.g. PayPal, Stripe).
Payment processor: The company that handles the transaction, communicating with the banks and facilitating the payment (e.g. Square, Adyen).
Issuing bank: The customer’s bank that issued their credit or debit card, which authorizes the transaction based on available funds. (e.g. Santander)
Acquiring bank: The merchant's bank that receives the funds from the issuing bank after the transaction is authorized. (e.g. HSBC)
Card networks: Organizations like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover that manage the card transaction networks and facilitate the transfer of information between issuing and acquiring banks.
Fraud prevention services: Some transactions may also involve third-party services that help detect and prevent fraudulent activities.
That’s 6-7 organisations that you give permission to view, handle, manage, store and share your data. Every time you 'tap to pay' or click 'Buy It Now'.
Data is aggregated into knowledge and as we all know, knowledge is power.
You can’t opt out of any of these organisations handling your data without opting out of a purchase.
Artega works like cash
Cash | Artega |
When you take money out of your bank account, your bank knows you’ve done it, but they don’t know where it goes next. | When you pay for an artwork through Artega, you are converting it into ‘Polygon’ cryptocurrency. Your bank knows you’ve made a transfer, but they can’t connect that transfer anywhere else. |
You give the barista enough change for a coffee. |
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The till makes a note of how much it’s received. The merchant knows there’s been a sale, but they don’t know who you are. |
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The barista hands you your drink. | WERT is s Smart Contract provider. They transfer Polygon into USDT and delivers your NFT artwork into the buyers wallet and makes a note of the transaction on the blockchain. |
The blockchain only shows the platform it was purchased through (Artega) and the wallet number of the owner (this is how decentralised trust is established) however, no one can trace the wallet number to the individual who purchased it. The artist doesn’t get this information and neither does anyone else unless the owner shares their wallet number. |
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(We also auto-generate a wallet for patrons each time to increase privacy, unless selected otherwise.) |
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The merchant has the money in their till. | WERT sends the artist USDT immediately into their wallet. |
The merchant pays the money into their bank. The bank only knows the amount and the merchant. | The artist converts their USDT into their native (aka fiat) currency when they withdraw it into their bank. The bank only knows the amount and the merchant. |
The merchant does their tax return. | The artist does their tax return. |
Each stage is underpinned by privacy and trust and each stage is discreet and separate the way humans are supposed to relate to each other. Unlike default payment processing outlined above your entire transaction isn’t shared with transnational organisations, governments, financial institutions and private organisations.
This is web3. This is the future of the internet, and we here at Artega HQ hope is the future of all financial infrastructure going forward.
We're here to make it as easy as possible for you to do business using it.
We know it's a lot to get your head around if you don't already know about it, so please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or need any help using our service at support@s.arte.ga