Picture this.
You’ve come across a page on Instagram advertising these dope headphones on sale. The ad catches your attention. You decide to place an order by making payment. The owner confirms and notifies you of their 3-day delivery policy. After three days, you receive a call for directions, followed by the delivery of the headphones. You realize the item is different from what you ordered. You call the seller and it’s needless back and forth. The seller claims the item is the same as the one shown online, only it’s a different color, but you know there’s more to it than that. Eventually, you count it as your loss because the seller won’t budge.
Imagine this as well. You come across an item you have been searching for online. You contact the vendor, make payment because they operate a payment before delivery policy but after paying, the item is never delivered. Your money is gone with the wind.
Also, Imagine this next scenario as a seller. Customer places an order and asks to pay on delivery. A delivery guy is dispatched to customer only to discover that customer is nowhere to be found or unreachable. Sigh!
You may have experienced either one of these or know someone who has, especially in recent times.
When it comes to the exchange of goods and services, especially online, many have expressed grave concerns, and for good reason. Everyone wants their comfort and peace of mind when making a purchase or selling their products. Trading should be a seamless exchange of goods at a value where both parties are content with the exchange process. This is, however, not the case always.
It is for some of these reasons that the use of an escrow service is important in business. With an escrow service, funds are kept in a third-party account and only released when both buyer and seller involved in a transaction meet certain pre-agreed conditions amongst them.
What is an Escrow Service?
An escrow service acts as a middleman between two parties where the money is held or kept with the middleman until a particular condition is met.
Let’s consider a company that sells goods locally or internationally. If the company engages a potential buyer (individual or corporate), the company needs assurance that it will be paid when the goods are delivered and the buyer is satisfied.
The buyer, on the other hand, is only willing to pay for the goods upon seeing the goods and getting the needed satisfaction. In this case both buyer and seller have need for comfort and could do with an escrow service, in which the buyer’s funds are held by a third party. The funds are transferred to the seller when both parties are satisfied with the terms, they agreed to e.g., payment upon delivery. This protects both parties’ interests.
Most escrow services are facilitated by banks or financial institutions. These banks operate an escrow account, particularly for home purchases, and act as a neutral entity that oversees transactions between the client and beneficiary. Clients can deposit funds into the escrow account. However, because of the nature of the transaction, a client may incur high mortgage costs, especially if escrow is used to pay for taxes and insurance. When a customer is making mortgage payments, for example, he or she may be required to make a down payment which may include several thousands and if funded within the loan, can take the buyer years to pay. Escrow fees are high, and banks may have daunting requirements to facilitate such transactions.
To make escrow easily available and affordable to a wider audience, Nsano launched a novel Mobile Money escrow service called Move Secure in Ghana. The service works by keeping money in trust until both the seller and the buyer are satisfied with the transaction. This is a much-needed remedy to re-establish trust between buyers and sellers. The widespread use of Mobile Money for financial transactions fast-tracked by the global COVID-19 pandemic, shows that many Ghanaians preferred their mobile money accounts for deposits, funds transfers, and even payments of goods and services. With 41m registered mobile money accounts, 17.5m of which are active, Move Secure has essentially democratized escrow services.
Beyond its novelty, another exciting feature of Move Secure is its Online Dispute Resolution Centre, where in the event of a disagreement, either party can file a complaint. Here, both parties are given a period to settle the dispute as a first step. If both parties are unable to resolve the dispute, either party may request the services of a mediator to aid in the resolution, after which the payment will be released based on the outcome of the dispute resolution. The services of this Dispute Centre are totally free.
With rising concerns regarding online purchases, particularly heightened when it comes to high-end items, using an escrow service should be a no brainer. Move Secure caters to the needs of a buyer who wants guarantee that their items will be delivered once payment is made, as well as a seller who wants assurance that their goods or services have been paid for before delivery is made.
The advantages of Move Secure are numerous. It provides comfort for both buyers and sellers in the exchange process, enables safe and secure transactions on Mobile Money and builds trust in online and offline commerce.
How Does it Work?
When a buyer pays for an order via Move Secure, a seller gets an SMS confirming that a payment has received on the seller’s behalf and it’s being held in trust by Move Secure. After a satisfactory delivery, the funds are instantly released to seller. This payment also removes the risk of wasting time or money transporting orders to uninterested customers.
The next time you are paying for an order or selling your goods or service, remember to use Move Secure. To use the service, simply dial *718# and choose option 2 or download the Move App via Play Store or AppStore for all your transactions.
For more details, visit the website – https://movegh.com/secure