Everything about how Kenya Escrow works — payments, fees, limits, disputes and protection for both sides.
Escrow is a payment arrangement where a neutral third party — Kenya Escrow — holds the buyer's money until the seller delivers what was agreed. Neither side has to trust a stranger: the money moves only when the agreed conditions are met.
The buyer creates a transaction, pays by M-Pesa into escrow, the seller is notified by SMS & WhatsApp and delivers, then the buyer confirms and funds release instantly to the seller's M-Pesa. See the full step-by-step.
It's escrow powered by M-Pesa: the buyer pays via a normal M-Pesa STK push, but the funds land in escrow instead of the seller's account — released only after delivery is confirmed. More on M-Pesa escrow.
No. There is no registration, login, or app download for buyers or sellers. Transactions run on secure links — create one in under a minute on the homepage.
A small escrow service fee covers secure fund holding, SMS & WhatsApp notifications, and dispute handling — always shown before you authorize payment. There are no M-Pesa transaction fees for users. Check the live calculator on our pricing page.
The seller can receive up to KSh 240,000 per transaction — keeping the buyer's total within the KSh 250,000 M-Pesa paybill limit. For larger deals, split the payment into milestone transactions.
Setup takes under a minute and payment is instant. The escrow deadline is set by the buyer — hours or days depending on the deal — and can be extended from the escrow page if the seller needs more time.
Your money stays locked in escrow — the seller never had it. Raise a dispute from your escrow link and our team reviews the case with evidence from both parties.
If the buyer raises a dispute instead of releasing, the order freezes while our team reviews. Sellers should keep delivery evidence (photos, chats, receipts) — funds aren't released arbitrarily.
Either party can raise a dispute from the transaction page. The order freezes and our team acts as a neutral arbitrator: we contact both sides on WhatsApp, review the evidence each party provides (chats, receipts, delivery or handover proof), and decide where the funds go — release to the seller or refund to the buyer.
No. Once money is in escrow there are no chargebacks or self-service reversals — the buyer cannot pull it back alone. Only two things can move the funds: the buyer releases after confirming delivery, or our team resolves a dispute.
A dispute is not an automatic refund — it freezes the funds while we investigate. We collect evidence from both parties: delivery confirmations, screenshots, chats, and handover proof. If the evidence shows the seller delivered as agreed, the money goes to the seller — an honest seller cannot lose both the goods and the payment.
Yes — that's one of the most common uses. Create the escrow transaction after agreeing the deal, and only release after you receive and verify the item. See Jiji escrow and Facebook Marketplace escrow.
Yes — social media accounts (X, Instagram, TikTok), gaming accounts, domains and other digital items are among our most common transactions. The seller hands over the credentials or ownership within the agreed deadline, and the buyer releases once they verify access. Sellers should keep evidence of the handover (screenshots, chat logs) in case the buyer disputes afterwards.
Yes — escrow works for any deal where payment should follow delivery: cars, freelance projects, electronics, business transactions and property deposits.
Both parties get instant SMS and WhatsApp notifications when payment is secured, when deadlines change, and when funds are released. The seller also gets a view-only tracking link.
The buyer's link controls the funds — never share it, not even with the seller. The seller receives their own view-only tracking link automatically, which cannot release money.
The buyer can extend the escrow deadline from the transaction page at any time before or after expiry — useful when delivery needs more time.