Escrow is the single feature Remse users mention most when they're deciding whether to trust the platform with real money — and for good reason. Paying someone you've never met, in a country you may have never visited, for work that hasn't happened yet, is exactly the kind of transaction that goes wrong without the right protections. Here's exactly how it works.
The three states of your money
Every naira you put toward a service on Remse moves through three distinct states:
- Wallet balance — funds you've added via Paystack, sitting ready but not committed to anything yet.
- In escrow — funds committed to a specific task, held by Remse, visible to both you and your agent, but not yet payable to anyone.
- Released — funds that have moved to the agent's balance after a milestone was approved.
What actually triggers a release
A milestone release happens one of two ways:
- You approve it. Your agent marks a milestone complete, you review the evidence they've submitted (photos, documents, confirmation), and you tap approve. Funds move instantly.
- A dispute is resolved in the agent's favor. If you don't respond or raise a dispute, Remse's support team reviews the evidence submitted and makes a determination.
Why milestones, not one lump sum?
Splitting a service into milestones protects both sides. An agent doesn't have to complete an entire multi-week visa process on trust before seeing a single naira. And you don't have to hand over the full amount for a job that hasn't started. Each milestone is small enough that either side can walk away from a bad match early, without a catastrophic loss.
Before approving a milestone, check the evidence your agent submitted carefully — once released, funds move to their balance immediately. If something looks off, raise a dispute before approving, not after.
Escrow won't make every relocation service go perfectly — nothing can promise that. But it does mean your money is never just handed over on faith. It's held accountable to the work actually getting done.