EscrowPay launches June 26, 2026 with WhatsApp-native escrow for Nigerian buyers and sellers, holding funds until delivery to reduce online shopping fraud.
EscrowPay is launching a WhatsApp-native escrow product for Nigerian e-commerce transactions. EscrowPay’s pitch is simple, it helps buyers and sellers complete deals when neither side wants to take the first risk.
Escrow is a “hold the money until the job is done” setup. The buyer pays into a controlled account, the seller ships the item, and the money is only released when delivery is confirmed. This aims to reduce common outcomes like non-delivery, ghost sellers, and buyers refusing to pay after receiving goods.
The founder and CEO, Toye Akinwale, says the service “processes trust” rather than payments or goods. According to the announcement, EscrowPay holds buyer funds with a Central Bank of Nigeria licensed bank and verifies each user using NIN, Nigeria’s national identity number.
The product is designed for the way many Nigerians already buy and sell online, through WhatsApp chats and informal social commerce. Instead of pushing users to a new marketplace app, EscrowPay positions itself as a layer that can sit in the middle of existing buyer to seller conversations.
Trust remains a major bottleneck for Nigeria’s online retail. Cash-on-delivery reduced upfront payment risk for buyers, but it often shifts risk to sellers through failed deliveries, rejected parcels, and extra logistics costs.
A WhatsApp-native escrow flow could make more small transactions possible, especially for social media merchants and independent sellers. If EscrowPay can keep disputes low and delivery confirmation reliable, it may help increase completed orders and repeat purchases.
It also highlights a broader fintech trend in Nigeria, financial products are increasingly being built around messaging and identity checks, rather than only traditional checkout pages and card payments.
Primary Source: Techpoint
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