GRAFT ( Integrating crypto into the current points of sales )

dmilliz (68)in #originalworks • 6 years ago (edited)

In this article we shall dive into Graft, a blockchain and crytopcurrency that is specifically made for retail point of sales. They strive to make the acceptance of crypto currencies by merchants seamless to drive mass adoption of the new currencies. Lets dive in.

Table of content

Introduction
1.1 WHAT IS GRAFT
1.2 The Apps
The problems with merchants accepting crypto and how GRAFT solves them
GRAFT RTA system ( Its business as usual)
Advantages of integrate-able software with the current merchant devices
More freedom for merchants and customers [Pay with and receive them all]
GRAFT integration and the crypto revolution
RTA and the future of Crypto-Currencies
Final Thoughts

1. Introduction

Mass Cryptocurrency adoption is inevitable, but the hurdles to get to that stage are many. There are very few places you can go to online and offline that will accept your crypto. The thing is, most forward thinking merchants want to accept crypto to drive sales and to be seen as innovators amongst other things (I myself being one of them, I wanna be that cool business that accepts crypto before my competitors and attract tech savvy new era customers ).

The crypto traders and holders want to spend their crypto directly without having to change to fiat currency. At the moment, it is no wonder the individuals looking in from the sidelines at the crypto market see no value in the space. It is just seen as an investment into a kind of risky new stock market/ the biggest ponzi scheme in history/ the thing that gets hacked often. For those of us in the space, we know it is young, we know there are many brilliant ideas and solutions being birthed, we know it is just a matter of time. The pivotal step towards the crypto revolution is getting crypto to be accepted through the current infrastructure at the point of sales (POS) in your local shop, and that is what Graft is doing right now.

1.1 What is Graft?

Graft is a Payment Processor Network that has built their own blockchain and cryptocurrecny with the sole purpose of grafting the crypto world on top of the current payment infrastructure through Point of sales. Graft.

Meet the Graft Blockchian

GRAFT stands for Global Real-Time Authorizations and Funds Transfers (GRAFT) , interestingly, the word “graft” means to attach a part of a plant to one that already exist in order to reap the benefits of the best traits of the plants coming together and that is what Graft is doing with the crypto world and current transaction infrastructure. They are attaching an untraceable blockchain to the current payment infrastructure so it has privacy and at the same time decentralised, no middle men and less fees.

GRAFT can process crypto currencies and utility tokens alongside debit and credit cards. It gives consumers choice of what currency they want to use and it gives merchants the choice of how and what currency they want to receive. It also has all the payment types and cash flows that merchants and customers are already familiar with. On top of that, they have created an opportuniy for you to become a part of the revolution by driving adoption of the technology by becoming somewhat of an ambassador in an affiliate program earning GRFT tokens.

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To do all this, they have created 3 apps and integrated into Point of sales systems via partnerships with Verifone and Ingenico the top providers in POS terminals and will integrate into more in the future.

1.2 The Apps

The GRAFT wallet App

The GRAFT wallet allows for customers to send and pay with multiple crypto-currencies, not just GRFT tokens. Transacting using GRFT is free and instant. Transaction fees are paid by merchants who pay less than credit card transactions. The fee with GRAFT is an unchanging 0.5% across all volumes, plus 0.25% to 0.75% for SLA & services, unlike credit card that charge 2-3% for each transaction.

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Android IOS MacOS Windows

GRAFT Point of Sales App

With GRAFT point of Sales, smaller merchants can accept crypto-currencies by adding their products and services to the system and using it as their point of sales or along with their current fiat system. This is the easiest way I have seen for a merchant to accept crypto, using the app I could easily add product pics, descriptions and set prices in fiat or crypto currencies. There were even options to transfer the balance to Paypal or bank account

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Android Download

GRAFT Crypto Finder App

With the crypto-Finder app, individuals can check the stores around them that accept crypto, add or remove them if their status has changed, encourage stores to accept crypto and help them set up with materials and know how all while earning some GRFT tokens. It is an affiliate/ambassador/ become a part of the crypto revolution app.

2.The problems with merchants accepting crypto and how GRAFT solves them

Most merchants want to accept crypto currencies but it lacks many convinient features that current fiat payment gateways have. To illustrate these problems below and how GRAFT will solve them, I have created this table.

The problems merchants have accepting crypto	How Graft solves the problem
Lack of essential transaction types	Graft makes it possible to use crypto with transaction types the fait world is familiar with. (Authorise, Complete, Cancel, PreAuth, sale, transfers, exchanges, schedule, escrow, refund issuing of rewards such as loyalty programs and redeem such as gift cards.
Unsuitable payment flows	The network automatically exchanges other crypto currencies, tokens, or converts credit card payment in local fiat currency into GRFT in real time.
Long confirmation times	Real-Time Authorisations using supernodes done in milliseconds that mimics the current debit/credit card system.
Unbalanced and unpredictable transaction fees	Fixed transaction fees of 0.5% across all volumes, plus 0.25% to 0.75% for SLA & services.
Inability to process micropayments and repeating charges (subscriptions)	Graft has very low fees to facilitate micro payments and subscriptions. All transaction types can be executed using Graft and its service brokers who facilitate numerous types of transactions.
Lack of offline transactions support	Offline transactions possible, if the system cannot get an authorisation sample, and the merchants is willing to take the risk, offline transaction becomes possible. It can also be based on buyer’s and supernode’s reputation scores. ( it mimics the credit/debit card world in a crypto way.)
Low scalability	High scalability due to decreased block creation interval ( only 2 minutes), the size limit of blocks are removed so that transaction blocks are created faster and can handle more transactions per second. This is maintained by super nodes that are always on and creates highly scalable real time transactions.
Volatility	Curbed by using instant, real-time transaction settlement, and the ability to adjust rates to market prices using the app. They can also instantly shift into fiat after the transaction to keep stability.
Incomplete security	Secured using the latest blockchain technology, temporary account locking so no double spending possible. VChains/private blockchians for large corporate merchants or those who want to link accounts.
Lack of privacy due to traceability of blockchain	Graft's blockchain keeps infromation private and untraceable, it is based on Monero's coding without the high fees. CryptoNote is the name of this feature.
Lack of trust between buyer and merchant	High level of trust as amounts are insured and reputations scores of merchants and buyers are a part of the system.
Questionable utility	Graft has viable and working utility as a payment processor for fait and crypto with all the familiarities.
Poor usability of end-user interfaces	Easy to use interfaces with 3 great looking and well built apps. Graft is also integrated into current easy to use POS systems.
Lack of customer support	24/7 Customer support for high transaction merchants in real time. Service brokers may insure up to $100 and compensate customers or merchants due to tech issues or fraud just like what they are used to.
Not easy to integrate into the current systems	Ease of integration is what Graft is all about.

GRAFT has it all covered, there is nothing for merchants to fear except being left behind by their competitors.

3. GRAFT RTA system ( Its business as usual and the crypto transactions are here and fast)

GRAFT Real Time Authorisation allows transactions to be complete in seconds unlike other crypto currencies.

This is achieved by using a consensus of always-on trusted supernodes ("authorization sample") with the ability to perform a distributed instant authorization lock on a buyer's account and communicate a response back to the client, typically within milliseconds. The supernodes also maintain the GRAFT blockchain so no transactions can be authorized “off chain. Supernodes All transactions are processed by the network of always-on GRAFT network nodes—supernodes—in real time. Transaction fees are paid by the receiver (merchant) to the supernodes participating in the authorization sample and (optional) service brokers participating in transaction processing. The owners of the supernodes are responsible for any transactions they process. Such responsibility is achieved by financial interest (transaction fees).

Bitcoin Network Processing

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Bitcoin processing through intermediaries

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GRAFT processing

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As seen by the diagrams above, GRAFT's RTA ( Real Time Authorization ) has no fees to buyers, only merchants and is much faster than what is currently available. This system makes more sense don't you think?

4. Advantages of integrate-able software with the current merchant devices

By integrating software with current devices, it allows merchants to not have to learn new complicated software and hardware but to use what they already know while accepting crypto. The seamless integration is the key component of the GRAFT network. Merchants do not have the time and patients to learn something new, when what they know now works just fine. But if its easy to integrate and use, the fees are low and the crypto spenders come a knocking at the door, then all will jump in to win. They can also offer these new tech savvy customers loyalty programs by issuing their own tokens via GRAFT. Merchants can also feel at ease as the crypto they receive is liquid using the GRAFT Network and can shift to fiat or other crypotcurrencies easily. All this can be done for eCommerce as well as physical stores.

5. More freedom for merchants and customers [Pay with and receive them all]

GRAFT also uses service brokers so other cryto-currencies such as bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, Monero and others can be accepted on the network easily. However, their high fees cannot match Graft's low fees for merchants and no fee for buyers/senders of payments. But options are always good. Also remember that GRAFT allows for credit card/debit card processing as well as new era payment gateways such as Apple pay, GooglePay and Paypal. This gives true freedom of choice to buyers and will definitely add to the bottom line for merchants as no stone is left unturned.

6. GRAFT integration and the crypto revolution

Because the merchants will be using systems they are already familiar with, it will drive them to accept crypto fast and spread the mass adoption of the currencies. No merchant wants to be left behind and not add to their bottom line. The Crypto spenders will be happy to pay directly with their crypto currencies and tokens as shifting to fiat is costly and time consuming. Consumers and merchants both want the value that GRAFT offers and that value is convenience, time and money saved.

7. RTA and the future of Crypto-Currencies

Real time transactions are one of the key features missing from crypto currencies today. Some see it as a joke with conformations taking from 10 minutes to hours to complete and not to mention the hefty fees when the networks are busy( even when they are not). No one has time for that especially in this fast paced world. Time is money, the future of crypto currencies will be for the instant, efficient and user friendly. GRAFT is ahead of the pack and its main focus is on what really matters for a currency and that is ease of transacting. Many crypto currencies will begin to use this model in the near future I believe, and weave the mass adoption of the digital currencies.

GRAFT is making the user experience much friendlier than what exists today. Tell the average person about private and public keys and like an ice block their minds' will freeze. Tell them about conformation times and they will think you are in a land before time. It doesn't have to be so complicated GRAFT, along with its RTA which facilitates instant transactions also uses convenient high tech methods to initiate transactions easily using Multifactor Authentication Biometrics. See the diagram and quote from GRAFT below.

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Multifactor Authentication with Biometrics
GRAFT will implement best practices; advanced authentication to go along with the user management service, which will include risk/threat analytics based on login/usage pattern as well as device and network characteristics; and sophisticated multifactor-based authentication, which will include biometrics, FIDO and other passwordless factors, and techniques to identify the user.
The user ID will be given special attention to avoid the “lost key” problem, but also to ensure the ability to reliably ID the user quickly and in a variety of situations. To that end, UserID will be comprised of multiple elements (keys)—some tied to devices and hardware tokens, and some to user biometrics—that will jointly provide a base for identifying a user via a flexible set of attributes. For example it will be possible to identify the user by a choice of two factors out of a number of available ID elements (face, palm, iris, hardware token, device, etc). The unused factors will be used as a pool of factors to verify a user’s identity.
The ultimate goal is to make user identification and authentication work quickly, reliably, in a wide variety of situations, and on a wide variety of devices while providing users with choices that are reflective of user preferences and limitations.

8. Final Thoughts

What a wonderful world it will be when crypto currencies are accepted alongside credit/debit cards and other fiat systems. It really makes sense what GRAFT is doing, as to build a whole new infrastructure will take way too much time and resources. All those investments in crypto currencies and tokens that you have bought, all the rewards you've earned on new decentralized social media ( such as steemit, Lit, Minds, LBRY etc) all the tokens earned form playing games and doing tasks can finally be shifted for ease of payment at points of sales online or at brick and mortars. GRAFT is shaping the digital currency world on top of the existing one to make this possible. The rates are low for merchants and fees non existent to buyers, all the payment types we are familiar with exist with GRAFT, from the loyalty programs to subscriptions. Merchants, shall we dive in and be ahead of our competitors? Hodlers, lets dust off those hardware wallets and flex our crypto muscles.

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