Where your money actually sits during a Corido Secure Pay transaction
Escrow sounds complicated. Here is exactly what happens from the moment you tap 'Pay' to the moment the seller receives their M-Pesa.
The most common question our support team receives is some version of: "I paid — where is my money?" The answer involves a few moving parts that are worth understanding clearly, because that understanding is what makes Secure Pay trustworthy.
Step 1 — You initiate payment
When you tap "Pay with Secure Pay" on a listing, Corido sends an M-Pesa STK Push to your registered phone. You see a prompt on your handset asking you to enter your M-Pesa PIN. This is a standard Daraja API call — the same infrastructure every Kenyan bank and major retailer uses.
Step 2 — Your money moves to the Pesapal escrow account, not to the seller
This is the critical point. The funds do not go to the seller's phone. They go to a Pesapal escrow account held in trust. Pesapal is a licensed payment service provider regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya under the National Payment System Act. They are not Corido. Your money is not sitting in Corido's bank account — it is in a regulated third-party escrow.
Step 3 — The seller ships (or arranges collection)
Once payment is confirmed, the seller receives a notification and ships the item or arranges a handover. The listing moves to "Awaiting delivery" status in both the buyer and seller dashboards. The escrow is locked — neither party can access it.
Step 4 — You confirm receipt
When the item arrives and you are satisfied, you tap "Confirm receipt" in the app. This releases the escrow. Corido's platform fee (charged to the seller) is deducted at this point, and the remainder is queued for disbursement to the seller's M-Pesa or bank account within one business day.
Step 5 — What happens if something is wrong
If you do not confirm receipt within 5 days of the delivery confirmation date, the system prompts you. If you raise a dispute, the escrow stays locked until the dispute is resolved by our team. Neither the buyer nor the seller can force a release without the other party's confirmation or a moderator ruling.
The entire flow is designed so that the only way the seller gets paid is if you — the buyer — confirm you have the item. That is the guarantee Secure Pay provides. No confirmation, no release.