Escrow.com

Escrow.com is an online escrow service for buying and selling goods and digital assets, operated by Internet Escrow Services, Inc. in San Francisco. The service belongs to the Freelancer group and has been running since 1999, according to the company.

How it works

Funds are held by the service and released once the agreed conditions are met and the buyer has inspected and accepted the item. Both commercial and private transactions are served, and clients include buyers, sellers, brokers, marketplaces and businesses.

Products and payment methods

The product line covers online monetary escrow, a marketplace-embedded escrow API, Escrow Pay, Escrow Offer and Escrow Buttons. Supported currencies are USD, AUD, EUR, GBP and CAD. Funding is possible by wire transfer, money order in USD, Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards, and PayPal, with restrictions on cards and PayPal. Disbursement by ACH is limited to the US.

Settlement and compliance

After conditions are verified, payout is initiated the same or next business day. A US wire takes about one business day, an international wire three to five, and US ACH three. KYC and AML checks apply. The company describes itself as a licensed online escrow provider and points to the California DFPI register; the fee schedule is tiered by transaction size.