Escrow Policy

Effective Date: 15 June 2025 Escrow is what lets a hirer and talent who have never met trust each other with money. This page explains exactly how it works.

1. What Escrow Means Here

When a hirer confirms a booking, their payment — talent cost plus the EventsPOP service fee — is collected immediately and held by EventsPOP, not paid to the talent yet. The talent only gets paid after the gig is confirmed complete.

2. The Escrow Lifecycle

1. Hirer confirms a booking and pays in full. 2. Funds move into escrow, marked "held." 3. The gig takes place. 4. The hirer (or the system, after a defined window) marks the gig complete. 5. Funds are released for payout to talent, minus the EventsPOP service fee. 6. If a dispute or incident is raised before release, the payout is held pending Trust & Safety review.

3. Fees Inside Escrow

Hirers are charged a 10% service fee on top of the talent cost. Talent have 10% deducted from their agreed rate. Example: a KSh 10,000 shift rate means the hirer pays KSh 11,000 into escrow, and the talent receives KSh 9,000 on payout. Both fees are shown clearly before any payment is confirmed.

4. Payouts

Once released, talent are paid via M-Pesa to their registered payout number, typically within 3–5 business days, subject to dispute resolution. EventsPOP can withhold a specific payout pending investigation of a reported incident, cancellation dispute, or compliance review — this never affects other, unrelated payouts to the same talent.

5. Why We Hold Funds

Escrow protects hirers from paying for work that doesn't happen, and protects talent by guaranteeing the money already exists and is committed before they show up. Neither party can unilaterally pull funds out of escrow once a booking is confirmed.

6. Disputes During Escrow

If a dispute is raised before funds are released, payout is paused while our Trust & Safety team reviews evidence from both sides. See our Refund & Cancellation Policy for how cancellation-related amounts are calculated.

7. Contact Us

Questions about a held or released payment: support@eventspop.org, including your booking reference.