As the payer, you’re in control. You setup the transaction on TradeyPay Escrow to reflect the agreed payment terms and also nominate a payee (tradesman, trade pro or builder) to be paid. Both you and your nominated payee will need to verify your details in line with applicable Know Your Customer (KYC) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

Once you lodge your funds, they can only be released to your payee subject to your agreed terms or returned to your bank account. Your lodged funds are held securely within the EU in a bank account in your name with a designated IBAN number by PayrNet, a registered eMoney Institution (EMI) registered with the Bank of Lithuania with license number LB001994.

The TradeyPay Escrow service is powered by Trustshare UAB, a company registered in Lithuania with the registration code 305668309, whose registered office is at Zalgirio g. 90-100, LT-09303 Vilnius, Lithuania. Trusthare are registered with the Bank of Lithuania as EMD agent with authorisation code LB001994. Trustshare is also a licensed eMoney provider in the UK registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with reference number 902866.

You can start a TradeyPay Escrow transaction via the ‘Check Your Replies’ section of Onlinetradesmen. Simply click the "Pay By Escrow” on the reply from a particular trade pro, or click on the ‘Get started’ button on this page .

TradeyPay Escrow links to all the main banks in Ireland using open banking, making it simple to lodge money securely from your nominated bank account. You simply checkout on the platform via online banking and select your bank. If your bank isn't listed, you can also pay manually into the dedicated escrow account using the sort code and account number or IBAN listed. For smaller transactions, you also have the option to pay via credit or debit card.

We keep the transaction fees as set low as possible - while providing you with all the benefits and safeguards that TradeyPay Escrow provides. Charges are tiered based on the transaction amount and start at 2.5% and decrease as total transaction value gets larger, keeping it affordable for you. You can see all the transactions charges on the system before you agree to make any transactions on the service. There is a minimum transaction fee of €5.00 to use the service.

As a regulated services powered by EU licensed financial institutions, you will need to satisfy EU KYC (know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-money laundering) laws in the same way as setting up a bank account.

But don’t worry – using advanced verification technology from Passbase this process is quick and straightforward. You’ll be asked to enter your personal details, take a selfie on your mobile phone and photograph your ID. Passbase is GDPR compliant so captures and stores your data securely.

Companies or business can also register on the platform

With TradeyPay Escrow you control when payments are released. You have flexibility to setup milestone payments based on the progress of the job or to pay it all in full upon completion – whatever you have pre-agreed with your tradesman, trade pro or builder.

Of upmost priority – you should only release fund when you are satisfied with the quality of the job / project.

As part of the TradeyPay Escrow service you have the ability to raise a dispute at any stage of the process where you have legitimate issues. You’ll find more on this below – but you can only raise a dispute prior to releasing funds. Once the funds are released, they go direct to the tradesman, trade pro or builders bank account and cannot be recovered via this service.

When you are 100% happy with your job, simple click ‘release’ on the transaction and your trade pro will receive the money into their bank account as long as they have completed verification on the platform.

As before, you can also setup milestone payments on a project based upon the progress of your job. These are effectively partial or % payments of the full amount when certain pre-agreed stages have been met (e.g once the roof has been completed on a new build or similar).

The platform currently supports open banking with the main Irish banks. You can transfer money into the service directly from your nominated bank account. You can also transfer smaller amounts in the service via supported credit and debit cards.

In the event that you have a legitimate issue with your tradesman, trade pro or builder you have the option to raise a dispute on the platform by selecting the ‘Dispute’ button.

However, prior to doing this we recommend that you discuss the issue and try to resolve it with your tradesman, trade pro or builder first. In most cases issues can be traced back to simple misunderstandings or poor communication between parties. Always best to go down the informal route or reach a compromise before creating an official dispute.

As per the above, it is always recommended to discuss any issues directly with the other party prior to creating an official dispute. However, in some cases this approach may not resolve the issue.

As per the above, once you create a dispute on the platform it will initiated a 3rd party resolution process fully managed by Trustshare. Disputes should be raised only where the other party is non-responsive or is not agreeing to complete the job as agreed.

As an independent 3rd party, Trustshare will rely on physical documentation and verifiable communications (e.g contracts, quotations, emails) between both parties to resolve any disputes. Once you raise a dispute on the service you will be contacted by email to provide the necessary documents to initiate a dispute.

Please note: Onlinetradesmen is not party to any disputes via the TradeyPay Escrow service and should not be contacted in relation to disputes as we are not party to the transaction.

Disputes are managed by Trustshare, an independent 3rd party, Once you have sent valid documents over to support the dispute, both parties are then notified of the dispute and are request to provide any additional supporting documentation.

A request is then made to both parties to attempt to reach agreement within 15 business days. Where agreement is not reached within this timeframe, Trustshare will make a decision within an additional 15 business days based upon the supporting evidence provided by both parties and then distribute the relevant funds accordingly.

It is advisable that both parties engage in the process where a dispute is raised. It stands within reason that where a party does not provide any supporting evidence to defend their position, the dispute will settled against them.

Please note: Onlinetradesmen is not party to any disputes via the TradeyPay Escrow service and should not be contacted in relation to disputes as we are not party to any transactions

You can only raise a dispute on the platform prior to releasing funds. Once the funds are released, they go direct to the tradesman, trade pro or builders bank account and cannot be recovered via this service. However should you decide to take action against the other party outside of this service you will have a full payment audit trail as evidence

As an independent 3rd party, Trustshare uses its best judgement using the supporting evidence provided by both parties to come to a balanced and fair decision. Once completed a dispute cannot be re-opened on the platform. If you are not happy with the outcome you can open proceeding against the other party if you wish as outlined here.