ESCRO holds the buyer’s payment in a dedicated escrow account and releases it to the supplier only once the delivery has been confirmed. The seller works knowing the money is there; the buyer pays knowing they will be refunded if nothing arrives.
CTR-2026-0481
Supply of 120 tonnes of cement
Supplier · Sahel Matériaux SARL
Amount held in escrow
Held since 2 September · releasable once confirmed
confirmations before any payout
ESCRO reviews the payment; the client confirms the delivery.
supported currencies
XOF, XAF, EUR, USD, GHS and NGN, each shown in its own money format.
funds mixed with ESCRO’s own
Escrowed money is segregated: the company never owns your funds.
of decisions logged
Every acceptance, rejection, payout and refund is timestamped and attributed.
How it works
Escrow does not complicate the transaction — it moves the risk. The buyer no longer pays into the void, and the supplier no longer works without a guarantee.
Step 1
Amount, currency, deadline, description of the work and how the fee is split. The counterparty approves, or rejects with a reason.
Client and provider
Step 2
The client pays by Wave, Orange Money, Moov Money or bank transfer, then submits the proof. ESCRO reviews it before the funds are held.
Client, reviewed by ESCRO
Step 3
The provider works knowing the money is there, then reports the delivery with supporting documents.
Provider
Step 4
The client confirms receipt: the funds go to the provider, less their share of the fee. Otherwise nothing moves.
Client
The client rejects the delivery, or either party opens a dispute. The funds stay put: neither released nor refunded. An administrator takes the case, reviews the evidence from both sides, and issues a reasoned decision.
Decided in the provider’s favour
The escrowed funds are released and paid out to the provider.
Decided in the client’s favour
The client is refunded the money they paid in.
Use cases
Wherever one side must pay first and the other must deliver first, somebody carries the risk. Escrow removes it from both — and every situation already has its contract.
B2B trade
The matching contract
Freelancers and agencies
The matching contract
Import and export
The matching contract
Commercial property
The matching contract
Sites and civil works
The matching contracts
Marketplaces and intermediaries
The matching contracts
Contract templates
Each template is drafted under the OHADA Uniform Act and names ESCRO as the trusted third party. When the money is released is not a sales promise: it is an article both parties sign.
Commercial property
The deposit never reaches the landlord: ESCRO holds it until the outgoing inventory is signed.
Deposit held for the whole term of the lease
Parties to the contract
Construction and civil works
The whole budget is held before the first spade goes in, then released milestone by milestone against proof of progress.
100% held · released by milestone
Parties to the contract
Trade and distribution
The buyer pays before shipment, but the supplier is only paid once delivery is accepted.
100% held before shipment
Parties to the contract
Services and freelance
The budget is locked before the first day of work and released when the deliverables are approved.
Held at signature · released on delivery
Parties to the contract
Mining and industry
Funds are secured as soon as the purchase order is issued, then paid out on the mining company’s payment terms.
Held on ordering · paid on terms
Parties to the contract
These templates are provided for guidance and must be adapted to your situation before signing. They do not constitute legal advice.
The platform
Escrow is only worth its audit trail. ESCRO records the state of every contract, the document that moved it forward, and the person who decided it.
Eleven states cover the full journey, happy path and dispute branches alike. Client and provider see the same screen: nobody has to call to find out where the money is.
Wave, Orange Money, Moov Money or bank transfer. Every proof is reconciled against the expected amount before funds move into escrow.
XOF, XAF, EUR, USD, GHS, NGN — each with its own decimals and symbol. An amount is never truncated or mislabelled.
Charged to the client, charged to the provider, or shared on a negotiated split. The split is fixed when the contract is created.
Documents and images are served by the backend alone, after an access check. No public storage URL, and no executable file is ever rendered.
You can be the client on one contract and the provider on another. The actions you are offered are always the ones the server will allow.
Opening, assignment, reasoned decision and execution: every step is dated, attributed and visible to both parties.
Security and compliance
Escrow is only worth something if nobody — ESCRO included — can move the money alone. That is a design constraint, not a marketing promise.
How funds flow
Client
Pays the contract amount and their share of the fee.
Segregated account
Holds the funds. ESCRO is the custodian, never the owner.
Provider or refund
The exit is triggered by a confirmation or by a dispute decision.
Escrowed money is held in a dedicated account with a licensed partner institution. User funds are never mixed with the company’s own assets.
Authentication runs through a dedicated identity provider. ESCRO holds no password, and the email address is verified before an account opens.
Every action is re-evaluated by the backend against the caller’s identity and their position on the contract. Hiding a button was never protection.
Attachments are served by the backend after an access check, and rendered without ever being loaded into a browsing context.
Accepting a proof, confirming a delivery, deciding a dispute: every financial event is dated, attributed and retained.
All traffic between your browser, the platform and the document store is encrypted end to end.
ESCRO operates an escrow service. Funds entrusted to it are held in a dedicated segregated account with a licensed partner institution in the WAEMU area, and are never mixed with the company’s own assets. ESCRO is not a credit institution and does not take deposits within the meaning of BCEAO banking regulation.
Pricing
ESCRO earns on contracts that exist, not on a subscription. The commission is a percentage of the amount, calculated and shown before anything is confirmed.
What the commission covers
Fees charged by the payment operator you use to fund the escrow — Wave, Orange Money, Moov Money or your bank — remain yours to pay and do not pass through ESCRO.
Create my first contractIndicative rate of 2% · the applicable rate is shown before you confirm
Contract amount + their share of the commission
Contract amount − their share of the commission
of which 50,000 FCFA borne by the client and 50,000 FCFA by the provider
Frequently asked questions
A question that is not answered here? Open an account — creating a contract is free until it is funded.
Funds are held in a dedicated segregated account with a licensed partner institution in the WAEMU area. They are separate from ESCRO’s own assets; ESCRO is the custodian, not the owner. ESCRO is not a credit institution and does not take deposits.
Funds are never released without the client’s confirmation. If the delivery does not happen, or is rejected, the client can open a dispute: an administrator reviews the evidence and, if they decide in the client’s favour, the refund is executed.
The provider can open a dispute too. The decision rests on the evidence filed by both sides — delivery notes, correspondence, supporting documents — not on either party’s word. If the provider met their obligations, the funds are released to them.
By Wave, Orange Money, Moov Money or bank transfer, depending on the payment methods enabled on the platform. You then submit your proof of payment: an administrator reviews it before the funds are declared held in escrow.
The split is decided when the contract is created: entirely by the client, entirely by the provider, or shared on a negotiated basis. It is fixed at that point and stays visible on the contract.
XOF and XAF (CFA francs), plus EUR, USD, GHS and NGN. Each currency is shown with its own symbol and number of decimals, so an amount cannot be rounded or labelled wrongly.
Yes. The same account can be the client on one contract and the provider on another. Permissions are judged per contract, server-side: you only see the actions you are actually allowed to trigger.
No. Attachments are never served from a public storage URL: they pass through the backend, which checks on every request that the caller is a party to the case, or an administrator entitled to handle it.
Open an account, create a contract, invite your counterparty. Nothing is charged until the escrow is funded.