EscrowPay Services Launches Milestone Payments in Nigeria

In Short

EscrowPay Services has launched a new web platform for milestone-based payments in Nigeria. It targets freelancers, contractors, and clients who want less risk when paying for work delivered over time.

What Happened

EscrowPay Services went live on 20 October 2026. The product extends EscrowPay’s earlier WhatsApp-based escrow for goods to the services economy.

In the first release, EscrowPay Services supports jobs in Nigeria that are paid in naira. It is designed for work that happens over days or weeks, like building and renovation, design, software development, photography, tutoring, repairs, and consulting.

The core feature is staged payments, also called milestones, which means the client and service provider agree upfront on the steps of a job and what each step costs. The client can fund the full contract upfront or fund each milestone as it comes.

To use the platform, both parties must verify their identity with NIN or BVN, which are Nigeria’s national identity and bank verification systems. Funds are paid into an account held by Rubies Microfinance Bank, a CBN-licensed bank, and are not held by EscrowPay.

When a provider completes a stage, they submit evidence and mark it complete. The client then has 72 hours to accept the work, request changes, or open a dispute. If the client does not respond within 72 hours, the milestone payment is released automatically.

Fees are 10% of the job value, split equally between client and provider, at 5% each. Each side’s fee is capped at ₦50,000 per project.

Why It Matters

Service payments often break down on trust. Clients worry about paying deposits and getting incomplete work, and providers worry about finishing work and not getting paid.

Milestone escrow reduces that stand-off by tying money release to agreed deliverables. If it works at scale, it can improve cash flow for freelancers and small contractors, and make it easier for SMEs to hire outside talent without relying on personal trust or informal agreements.