Opening your next page
Client funds on trust
A dedicated BNZ trust account, a small set of defined outcomes, and a ledger that makes every movement visible.
Illustrative payment
Escrow state
Held safelyAgreement
Funded
Held
$6,200
Approval
Released
Payment path
Customer bank
Authorised in internet banking
Akahu
Bank-to-bank open banking
BNZ trust account
Dedicated NZD client funds
Defined outcome
Released, refunded, or frozen
Release outcomes
They are released to the seller, returned to the customer, or held while a dispute is resolved, with Wlbr's fee paid as shown before payment. A dispute stops the affected release immediately. A response date passing does not release a payment, other than a part the customer agreed when paying to have held back until a set date. Staff cannot choose who gets the funds.
Illustrative outcomes
Escrow state
ReleasedAgreement
Funded
Held
Approval
Released
$4,200
Escrow state
Frozen for reviewAgreement
Funded
Held
Approval
$1,800
Released
Release is paused while the dispute is reviewed.
Proof over promises
Each entry cryptographically commits to the one before it. The chain is verified every six hours, and ledger balances are checked daily against the escrows they back. The trust account is reconciled against the bank statement by a signed daily record.
Example ledger activity
Append-only ledger
Chain verifiedNot sure a payment request is really from Wlbr? How to tell a genuine Wlbr payment.
Defined outcomes
When someone objects
The dispute path, step by step
Work submitted
Provider marks the job done
Customer reviews
Against the agreed scope
Approved - released
Paid out to the provider
Dispute opened
Funds freeze on trust
Evidence both sides
Photos, messages, scope
Agreement or order
Joint instruction, Tribunal or court
In a dedicated NZD client trust account at BNZ, held on trust by Financial Technologies Limited trading as Wlbr.
No. Staff cannot choose who gets the funds. Funds held for a payment are paid to the seller when the customer releases them. Otherwise they are dealt with as the customer and the seller agree in Wlbr, as a court or the Disputes Tribunal orders, or as our Terms provide: for example, they are returned to the customer where a dispute the customer raised stays open with no agreement and no court or Tribunal claim. Wlbr's fee is paid out of the funds received, as shown to both sides before payment. A response date passing does not release a payment: if the customer does not respond, the funds stay held. The one exception is a part the customer agreed, when paying, to have held back until a set date: that part can be paid to the seller after its date unless the customer has raised a defect. Staff record each step, and before any payment is recorded as sent from the trust account a staff member confirms it with their own passkey. If the customer's bank reverses a payment, the bank takes those funds back.
Any interest the trust account earns on funds while they are held is kept by Wlbr as a disclosed fee. Your escrow amount is never reduced by it.
No. Payments are bank-to-bank through Akahu open banking, authorised inside your own banking environment.
Walk through a protected payment or start your first escrow.