Ricardo by Systemics

Introduction

Ricardo is Systemics' architecture for Internet payment systems.

Ricardo is a three-party payment system common to Internet banking and DGCs. One user pays another user, by settling through a single server trusted by both users to manage value.

Using Ricardo, Systemics and partners have built trading systems, contract markets, secure messaging, and other applications. All these applications derive their underlying security from Ricardo's secure open transactions.

Documentation

• Ricardo: The Executive Summary - Fast track summary to getting an overview of Ricardo, only two pages long.

• Frequently asked questions - about Ricardo.

• WebFunds - an open source client application.

• The Ricardo Issuance Server - Issuer management and the writing of Ricardian contracts.

• Ricardo uses SOX as its secure transaction protocol. Read the SOX Executive Summary.

Applications

Ricardo's strength is reliable payments. Applications can build on this to create reliable higher layer services.

• A new application, Corporate Issuance, leverages all of the basic Ricardo infrastructure to provide an internal and AR/AP money for a corporation. This simple use of Ricardo results in the accounting system of a company being simplified and streamlined, and has the added benefit of financing the corporate's book of business at 0%.

• Ricardo is now bridged to the web services world, using XML-X as a direct payments protocol. XML-X exports the payment as an web interface, in a defined, reliable fashion. Systemics is now shipping XML-X middleware servers to drive Ricardo.

• XML-X also provides the basis for internal client-server construction of complete web-based payments solutions. Using the power of XML-X extensions, websites can now offer the full capabilities of Ricardo.

• WebFunds is now available with a demonstration of secure chat and email. This leverages the secure, encrypted reliable messaging inherent in the foundation provided by Ricardo.

• The underlying design goal of Ricardo as a payment system is in the support of financial trading, the toughest of all Internet payment scenarios. This is best seen with this narrative, A Day In The Life, of Terry the Trader.

• Ricardo has also formed the basis for trading markets for new intellectual derivatives such as tasks and idea futures.

• The Ricardo payment system has been integrated into Intertrader's CashBox to add to their existing smart card and digital gold payment systems.