The commercial commitment#
A protected purchase binds a merchant, an order, agreed terms and bounded refund authority before payment. The buyer or agent should be able to inspect the promise and its limits before accepting it.
Merchant enrollment connects identity and signing authority to a collection source, risk policy and permitted adjudicators. Enrollment is required; a new Cleard buyer wallet is not inherently required.
Four roles in the flow#
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Merchant | Enrolls a source and accepts defined refund authority before payment. |
| Buyer or agent | Inspects terms, accepts the purchase and submits a qualifying claim. |
| Decision authority | Evaluates evidence under the accepted policy and issues a bounded decision. |
| Execution layer | Verifies the decision and enforces the permitted collection constraints. |
A provider may operate several roles, but their responsibilities remain separate. Cleard does not automatically become the dispute judge or a funded guarantor.
Two separate transfers#
The buyer’s original payment settles to the merchant. A later refund is a new transfer from an enrolled collection source to the beneficiary agreed for the purchase. Never infer that beneficiary from the sender address alone: a custodian or intermediary may have sent the payment.
Approval does not mean payment#
Approval establishes an amount owed under the policy. Collection depends on eligible funds. If an award is 100 and only 40 is available, a policy permitting partial collection can pay 40 and record 60 outstanding.
Where BLISK fits#
BLISK compiles structured monotone AND/OR signer authorization policies into a single verification key. It can simplify what an execution environment must verify about the signer structure.
It does not replace commercial records, claim evidence, decisions, balances, beneficiary checks, amount caps, expiry or replay protection. This preview does not implement BLISK signing or verification.
Current scope#
Refund recourse is the first product direction. Warranties, delivery guarantees, credit and other commercial obligations remain possible future directions. No universal wallet, asset or network support is assumed.