If you are new to escrow, a handful of unfamiliar terms can make the process feel more complicated than it actually is. Here is a plain-language glossary to get you started.

Escrow account: The neutral holding account where funds sit until agreed conditions are met.

Release: The moment funds are paid out to the seller after the buyer confirms the deal is complete.

Dispute: A disagreement between buyer and seller that pauses the release of funds until resolved.

Terms: The specific conditions both parties agree to before the escrow account is funded.

Every step of a LockPesa transaction, from deposit to release, is tracked and timestamped, giving both sides a clear record to refer back to if a question ever comes up later.

Before your next a transaction, particularly with someone you are dealing with for the first time, it is worth running it through LockPesa. The small extra step of using escrow can prevent a costly loss.

Escrow is not about assuming bad faith in the other party, most transactions complete smoothly without any issue at all. It is about removing the small but real chance of loss so both sides can commit to a deal fully, rather than hesitating out of caution.

As more Kenyans buy, sell and invest with people outside their immediate circle of family, friends and known contacts, having a simple, accessible way to protect those transactions matters more than ever, whether the amount involved is a few thousand shillings or several million.

If you have not used escrow before, consider starting with a smaller, lower-stakes transaction to get comfortable with how deposits, confirmations and releases work, before relying on it for a larger or more important deal.

A well-run escrow transaction also leaves both sides with something less obvious but equally valuable: a track record. Once a buyer and seller have completed one protected deal successfully, future transactions between them often move faster, sometimes even without escrow, because the trust has already been established through that first protected exchange.

This is one reason LockPesa is increasingly seen not as an extra hurdle, but as a normal, sensible first step for any transaction involving real money and a party you do not yet know well.