Pay the Contract, Not the Person
Direct payments to verified legal agreements.
Payment Challenges
Contract payments flow to people, not to contracts. When you pay an invoice, you're trusting that the recipient represents the agreement accurately, that they'll distribute funds appropriately to other parties, and that the payment terms match what was actually agreed. That trust breaks down constantly—in disputes over who was owed what, in intermediary fees that extract value, in payment delays that strain relationships.
Escrow intermediaries extract fees for trust they rent. Real estate transactions pay 1-2% for escrow services. Freelance platforms take 10-20% for payment protection. International trade requires letters of credit with banking fees. These intermediaries don't add value—they compensate for infrastructure that lacks native payment capability. The contract specifies who should receive what and when. The payment infrastructure should execute those terms directly.
Multi-party payments create reconciliation nightmares. A simple revenue share agreement between three parties requires manual calculation, multiple payment initiations, and continuous reconciliation. A complex waterfall with ten recipients requires dedicated accounting staff. Errors compound. Disputes arise. The payments eventually happen—but with overhead that consumes a meaningful percentage of the value being distributed.
Timing uncertainty creates cash flow unpredictability. Net-30 means net-45 in practice. Milestone completion triggers disputes rather than payments. Recurring payments require calendar reminders and manual processing. The gap between when payment is earned and when payment is received creates financing costs, relationship strain, and operational complexity. Contracts specify payment timing—but execution depends on human action that's often delayed.
How Integra Solves It
Stop worrying about document fraud. We've got you covered.
Pay the Contract Directly
Send payment to a verified contract address rather than to individual parties. The Payment Resolver attached to the RWC receives funds and distributes according to the contract terms. No intermediary required. No trust in individual recipients. The contract itself becomes the payment recipient. Funds flow to parties because the contract says they should—verified against the integraHash of the source agreement.
Programmable Escrow
Smart contract escrow replaces third-party escrow services. Funds are locked in escrow automatically upon receipt. Release conditions are verified against contract terms and external confirmations. When conditions are met, escrow releases automatically. No escrow agent fees. No release approval delays. The escrow logic is visible in the smart contract—trustless and verifiable. Dispute resolution mechanisms are built into the protocol.
Multi-Party Distribution
Payment Resolvers calculate and distribute to multiple recipients in a single atomic transaction. A 10-party revenue share distributes to all 10 parties simultaneously. Waterfall structures execute precisely—first tier receives before overflow goes to second tier. No manual calculations. No sequential payment processing. No reconciliation required. The contract terms become the distribution logic.
Instant Settlement
Payments settle in seconds rather than days. When conditions are met, recipients receive funds immediately. No net-30 waiting periods. No check clearing delays. No international wire processing times. Settlement finality is cryptographic—once confirmed on blockchain, the payment is complete and irrefutable. Recipients have immediate access to funds.
Payment Types
Milestone Payments
Project-based payments that release when milestones are verified. Construction draws release when inspections confirm completion. Software payments release when acceptance criteria are met. Consulting payments release when deliverables are approved. The milestone verification can come from oracle data, multi-sig approval, or external system confirmation via API. Payment timing matches project progress automatically.
Recurring Payments
Subscription payments, retainer fees, and installment plans execute automatically at scheduled intervals. Payment Resolvers trigger at defined timestamps. Amounts adjust based on verified usage data. Grace periods and late fees are enforced by smart contract. Cancellation terms are honored automatically. Recurring payments that required manual processing become truly automatic.
Escrow Payments
Funds are held in smart contract escrow until release conditions are satisfied. Real estate closings release when documents are recorded. Service agreements release when completion is confirmed. Dispute resolution mechanisms allow for arbitration before release. Partial releases for phased projects. Automatic refund after timeout periods. All escrow logic is visible and auditable in the smart contract.
Conditional Payments
Complex payment logic executes based on verified conditions. Earn-outs trigger when performance thresholds are achieved. Bonus payments release when KPIs are met. Penalty payments deduct when SLAs are violated. Oracle integration provides external data for condition verification. The payment amount itself can be calculated based on condition outcomes.
Revenue Sharing
Proportional distribution of incoming revenue to multiple parties. Royalty splits distribute to rights holders. Partnership distributions flow to members. Platform revenue shares with creators. Real-time distribution as revenue arrives—not monthly reconciliation. Each party's percentage is verified against the RWC terms. Complete transparency into calculation and distribution.
Waterfall Distributions
Priority-based payment structures execute precisely. Debt service receives before equity distributions. Preferred returns receive before common returns. Manager fees calculate before profit splits. LP/GP structures execute their negotiated terms. The complexity that required specialized fund administrators becomes smart contract logic that executes automatically.
Payment Flow
Register Contract
The agreement is registered as an RWC with payment terms captured in the integraHash. A Payment Resolver is attached, configured with the distribution logic from the contract—percentages, waterfall priorities, condition triggers. Each recipient's wallet address is mapped to their contractual entitlement. The payment infrastructure is ready from the moment the contract is verified.
Receive Payment
Payer sends payment to the contract's Payment Resolver address rather than to individual parties. The payment is received into the smart contract, logged with timestamp and source. If escrow conditions apply, funds are locked until conditions are verified. If immediate distribution applies, the process advances to step 3 automatically.
Calculate and Distribute
The Payment Resolver calculates distribution amounts based on verified contract terms. Multi-party splits apply simultaneously. Waterfall logic executes in priority order. Variable calculations (percentage of revenue, per-unit fees) compute against verified inputs. Distribution transactions execute atomically—all recipients receive in a single blockchain transaction.
Confirm and Record
Each recipient's payment is confirmed with cryptographic receipt. The distribution is recorded on blockchain with complete audit trail—source payment, calculation methodology, distribution amounts, recipient addresses, timestamps. Integration via webhook notifies enterprise systems. Accounting records update automatically. The complete payment lifecycle is documented and verifiable.
Benefits
Stop worrying about document fraud. We've got you covered.
Eliminate Intermediary Fees
Replace escrow services, payment platforms, and distribution agents with smart contract automation. Real estate escrow fees of 1-2% become blockchain gas costs of pennies. Freelance platform fees of 10-20% become direct payment to creator. Revenue share administrators are replaced by Payment Resolvers. The value that was extracted by intermediaries now flows to the parties who earned it.
Instant Settlement
Payments clear in seconds rather than days or weeks. Contractors receive payment immediately upon milestone verification. Service providers are paid the moment work is confirmed. International payments settle as fast as domestic. The cash flow improvements from instant settlement often exceed the cost savings from eliminated intermediaries.
Zero Reconciliation
Distribution calculations are verified against RWC terms automatically. No spreadsheet formulas to audit. No allocation methodology disputes. No quarterly true-ups. Each payment is calculated correctly the first time because the smart contract references the verified source terms. Accounting receives transaction data via webhook for automatic journal entries.
Transparent Audit Trail
Every payment is recorded on blockchain with complete documentation. Regulators can verify distributions. Auditors can trace calculations to source terms. Dispute resolution has irrefutable evidence. Parties can verify their receipts at any time. The trust that intermediaries provided through reputation is replaced by cryptographic proof of correct execution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pay the Contract, Not the Intermediary
See how Payment Resolvers automate distribution, eliminate intermediary fees, and provide instant settlement. Schedule a demo to explore payment automation for your contracts—whether revenue shares, milestone payments, or complex waterfall distributions.