AGREED → FUNDED → SHIPPED → DELIVERED → RELEASED
Money that waits
for proof.
Mezzo holds the buyer’s payment while the seller documents the item — photos, condition, timestamps. The funds move when both sides agree, or when an arbiter decides. Never on a promise.
Identity verification is required before you can receive a payout.
Double-entry ledger
Every movement is posted twice. Balances reconcile to the kobo, and nothing is stored as a floating-point number.
Evidence hashed at capture
Photos are fingerprinted the moment they are taken, so nobody can swap in a different item later.
Reviewed by a person
A contested escrow goes to an arbiter with the agreed terms, both evidence sets, and the full message history.
The state machine
How the money moves
Five states, in order. An escrow can only ever be in one of them, and every change is written down with who caused it.
- AGREEDBoth sides
The terms get pinned down
Price, description, delivery window, and how long the buyer has to inspect. Nothing starts until both parties accept the same terms.
- FUNDEDBuyer
The buyer pays into escrow
The money leaves the buyer and stops. The seller can see that it landed. Neither side can move it.
- SHIPPEDSeller
The seller documents, then sends
Before it ships, the seller photographs the item and records its condition. Each capture is hashed and time-stamped as it happens.
- DELIVEREDBuyer
The inspection clock starts
The buyer compares what arrived against what was documented. The money has still not moved.
- RELEASEDMezzo
The money moves once
The buyer accepts, or the inspection window closes on its own. Funds release to the seller and the ledger records both halves of the entry.
The part other escrows skip
The item gets documented
before the money moves
Holding funds is the easy half. The hard half is knowing what was actually in the box. Mezzo makes the seller capture the item in-app — not upload a file from the camera roll — and fingerprints each photo the instant it is taken.
When a buyer says the item is wrong, there is a record from before it shipped to compare against. Arguments become checkable.
IMG_0114 · 3.2 MB
- captured
- 2026-07-30 14:02:11 WAT
- device
- rear camera, in-app
- sha-256
- a3f9c1…7e02b4
- status
- locked
When it goes wrong
Somebody has to decide
Most deals close without this. The ones that do not are the reason escrow exists, so here is exactly what happens.
- Either side can raise a dispute any time before the inspection window closes.
- Raising one freezes the escrow. The money stays exactly where it is while the case is open.
- Both parties upload evidence and see what the other filed. Nothing is submitted in secret.
- The outcome is a release, a refund, or a split, and it is posted to the ledger like any other movement.
Pricing
One fee, taken at release
Nothing is charged while an escrow is open, and nothing is charged on a refund.
- Escrow fee
- 1.5%
- Paid by
- Seller
- Payout to bank
- ₦0
- Refund to buyer
- ₦0
of the transaction, capped at ₦7,500
or split with the buyer, agreed in the terms
included, settles same day on business days
no fee is charged on a refunded escrow
Send the next one through Mezzo
Set the terms, share a link, and let the money sit still until the item checks out.