Locked Funds

Have you ever encountered a payment released to you but has been temporarily locked? This is not very common, but this happens for security reasons – to protect you (as the receiving party) from any liabilities that the funds may cause against you and to protect the interest of clients in a project. Locking of funds is also done in accordance with Section 18 (Limits & Fraud Prevention) of our Terms and Conditions.

Here, we’ll give examples of when this happens and how this can be sorted.

• Ongoing issues with the project. If you and the client are still communicating in terms of the completion of the project – because of incomplete/incorrect results, deliverables are still not working after the client's testing, etc. – the funds may be subject to locking. Once the project issue is sorted out and we can confirm that the project is complete,  the funds will be unlocked and you can proceed in withdrawing the payment.
• Problems associated with the client’s account.  This happens when we have to confirm some details on your client’s account. After the client resolves the concern, the funds will be unlocked and you can proceed with your withdrawal request.
• Chargeback from the client. When there’s a chargeback, a thorough investigation is done to prove the legitimacy of a transaction, and the funds being investigated are locked until a conclusion is made. The best way to help resolve this is by getting the client to cooperate with the investigation.

Note that locking of funds done during the withdrawal processing stage is different from the scenarios above. This is a standard process of withdrawal to prevent your funds from being used as we transfer it to your bank or wallet.