--- title: "Marketplace Escrow & Held Funds | Fynex" description: "Hold a buyer's payment until the order or job is approved, then release it to the seller on your rule. Escrow-style held funds for marketplaces." url: "/uk/marketplaces/escrow" --- Fynex is an AI-native finance operations platform — agentic finance — that automates and orchestrates end-to-end financial workflows for businesses. This page covers escrow on a marketplace: holding funds until delivery or a milestone is confirmed, then releasing them. Fynex works alongside Stripe Connect, Mangopay and Adyen for Platforms rather than replacing them. This page is relevant when money must be held until both sides have performed, then released and reconciled without a manual instruction. # Hold the buyer's money *until the work is done* Take payment at checkout, hold it while the order ships or the job gets approved, then release it to the seller. Escrow-style protection for both sides, held on a licence rather than a payout timer. *Marketplace building blocks.* ## Holding funds until delivery shouldn't mean gluing three tools together A service or goods marketplace needs to hold a buyer's money until the work is approved — but Escrow.com forces an offsite checkout, Stripe says outright that it doesn't provide escrow services (its manual payouts only delay a payout, within a country limit), and card authorizations expire in a week. So you either take the fraud risk of paying sellers early, or you build a reserve ledger by hand. ## How held funds run on Fynex Take the money now, move it only when the conditions are met. 1. **Take payment, hold the funds** — The buyer pays at checkout and the money is held safely by Fondy Ltd, an FCA-authorised EMI — not on your balance sheet, not stuck in a card authorization that expires. 2. **Release on your condition** — [Release](https://docs.fynex.ai/payments-api/v1/docs/captures-refunds) when the order ships, the job is approved, or a milestone is hit — in full or in part — by rule or with one call. No payout-timer ceiling to work around. 3. **Refund cleanly if it falls through** — If the work isn't delivered, refund the buyer from the held balance — no clawback from a seller who's already been paid. ## The same job, with the leaks closed Point tools solve part of it. Fynex runs the whole thing on one platform. | The problem | Other platforms (Stripe Connect / Escrow.com) | Fynex | |---|---|---| | Hold funds until the work is approved | Connect manual payouts delay a payout, not escrow (90-day UK limit); card auths expire in ~7 days. | Hold on your condition, with no fixed time cap. | | Keep the buyer on your site | Escrow.com bounces them to an offsite checkout. | Escrow-style hold inside your own flow. | | Who carries the funds while held | Sits on your balance sheet or the processor's. | Safeguarded with Fondy Ltd, an FCA-authorised EMI. | | Refund if it falls through | Claw back money from a seller already paid. | Refund straight from the held balance. | ## Questions, answered ### Does Fynex offer escrow for marketplaces? Yes. Fynex holds a buyer's payment after checkout and releases it to the seller only when your condition is met — the order ships, the job is approved, or a milestone is reached. Funds are safeguarded with Fondy Ltd, an FCA-authorised EMI, while held, so neither side carries the risk, and there's no arbitrary time cap on how long you can hold. ### How is this different from holding funds with Stripe Connect? Stripe states that it doesn't provide escrow services or support escrow accounts. Connect's manual payouts only delay a seller's payout, within a limit set by the seller's country (90 days for UK accounts), and a card authorization hold expires in about a week. Because the money is held safeguarded with Fondy Ltd, an FCA-authorised EMI, you release it on your condition, not a timer, then pay out. ### When are the funds released to the seller? On your trigger. Release when the order is delivered, the buyer approves the work, or a milestone completes — in full or in part, by rule or with a single API call. You define what 'done' means for your marketplace. ### What happens if the buyer wants a refund? Because the money is still held rather than already paid out, you refund the buyer directly from the [held balance](/glossary/held-funds/) — no chasing a seller who's already been paid, and no negative-balance clawback on your platform. ### Can I hold and release funds through an API? Yes. Funds sit in a wallet until the release condition is met, and both sides are documented — [wallets](https://docs.fynex.ai/payments-api/v1/docs/wallets) for where the money rests and [captures and refunds](https://docs.fynex.ai/payments-api/v1/docs/captures-refunds) for holding and releasing the payment itself — in the [Payments API reference](https://docs.fynex.ai/payments-api/v1/docs). ## The rest of the marketplace money layer Every building block below runs on the same platform. Start with one, or run the whole stack. - **Split payments** — Divide one payment across sellers, your fee and partners — by rule, in real time. - **Delayed capture** — Authorize a card at checkout and capture the payment later, when you're ready. - **Platform commission** — Take your cut automatically at settlement — set your take rate once and keep it. - **Seller onboarding & KYC** — Verify sellers with built-in KYC and KYB, inside your own signup — without the drop-off. - **Payout scheduling** — Pay sellers on schedule or by rule — mass, same-day or timed, by ACH or Faster Payments. - **Marketplace wallets** — Give each seller a stored balance to hold, top up and withdraw — per currency, one ledger. - **Balance management** — One ledger for every balance, split, hold and payout — reconciled to the transaction. ## Find what you're leaking, for free Send us your setup. We run a free diagnostic and show you what your payment stack costs you today. > One recent diagnostic found £2M in hidden fees across 10 processors for a proptech client. ## Your money, held under a licence, not a promise We can be your Merchant of Record, with your funds held by a licensed e-money institution. Most tools can't. - **Your funds, safeguarded** — Customer funds are held by Fondy Ltd, an FCA-authorised e-money institution (FRN 900705). - **PCI DSS Level 1** — The highest card-data security standard, on by default. - **Audit logs** — Every movement traceable and ready for review. - **Built-in KYC / KYB** — The switch that turns the business on. ## Protect both sides. *Hold the money until the work is done* --- The AI finance layer for platforms and operators. It runs the money chain and keeps more of it in your business. One platform instead of a dozen. 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