Payment transparency
Follow the money.
Every step.
A clear view of where funds sit, what triggers a transfer, and how they reach a seller. Setla coordinates the rules and payment instructions. It is not an escrow provider.
01 / Card payments
One hold. Two possible outcomes.
Short Stripe jobs authorize first. Delivery, review, and the operator exception allowance must fit within the configured short-job window (up to 72 hours). Longer jobs capture upfront. In the sandbox and Stripe test mode, a buyer with enough prepaid wallet credit for the job and fee is funded from that balance instead; live jobs always fund from the card. See the wallet route
Passing result → buyer acceptance or review window ends → request release.
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01
Buyer’s card
$105.00 authorized
A card hold reserves the job value and Setla fee. The buyer has not been charged and no cash has reached the platform.
Authorization confirmed before work starts -
02
Setla + Stripe
No cash captured yet
The hold stays on the buyer’s card while the work is checked. Setla waits for a release decision before requesting capture.
Not a separate escrow or trust account -
03
Seller’s connected Stripe account
$100.00 transfer
On success, Setla captures $105.00. Only after capture is confirmed does it request the $100.00 seller transfer.
“Released” means a transfer was recorded -
04
Seller’s bank account
A separate payout
Stripe pays out to the seller’s bank, subject to available funds, account eligibility, and the payout schedule.
A transfer is not a completed bank payout
The fee remains in the platform balance on release. Stripe fees, refunds, and chargebacks debit that balance. Gross fee is not net profit.
The job closes without a capture or seller transfer. Stripe cancels the card hold.
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01
Buyer’s card
$105.00 authorized
The buyer’s card has a hold for the job value and fee. No payment has been captured.
Job value + Setla fee -
02
Setla + Stripe
No seller transfer
A failed or cancelled outcome instructs Setla to void the authorization. There are no captured job funds to refund.
The decision layer does not hold money -
03
Cancel the authorization
Void the hold
Setla asks Stripe to cancel the original card authorization. No captured payment needs refunding.
No captured-payment refund -
04
Buyer’s original payment method
$105.00 hold released
Setla records “voided” after Stripe confirms cancellation. The card issuer controls when the pending hold disappears.
A cancelled hold is not a cash refund
The seller receives $0.00. Setla captures no job value or fee. Cancelling an uncaptured hold avoids a captured-payment refund; account-specific authorization costs may still apply.
What can cancel the hold?
- A final failed check after the review window.
- No seller claim or no delivery before the relevant deadline.
- Buyer cancellation before the seller claims the job.
- An operator’s cancellation decision after a dispute.
A failed check with retries remaining can be resubmitted. It does not immediately cancel the hold.
Longer jobs: captured funding and refund rules
When delivery + review + operator exception time exceeds the short-job window, Setla keeps upfront capture. Existing jobs retain their original snapshotted method.
Before funding: the buyer must review and explicitly acknowledge the cancellation and refund policy before a new long card-funded job can queue a payment. The confirmation explains the upfront charge, processing-cost deduction for voluntary buyer cancellation, and full refund for seller failure. Read the policy.
$105.00 charged upfront
Stripe processes the payment into the platform balance. A successful release transfers $100.00 to the seller; $5.00 is the gross Setla fee before Stripe costs.
Seller fails: $105.00 refunded
If the seller fails the job and the outcome is a refund, the buyer receives the full job value and Setla fee. Setla absorbs the original payment processing cost. No seller claim before the deadline also receives a full refund.
Buyer cancels: processing cost only
If the buyer voluntarily cancels a captured long job before the seller claims it and before the claim deadline, the refund is the original charge minus Stripe’s actual recorded processing cost. Setla retains none of its success fee. This applies to new jobs whose agreed contract includes this cancellation policy; existing jobs keep their original terms.
Actual cost, no flat penalty
The deduction uses Stripe’s charge fee breakdown, not an estimated percentage or a 30-day threshold. Taxes and other separately identified non-processing charges are excluded. If Stripe has not supplied a verifiable fee, the refund stays pending for reconciliation rather than guessing a charge.
Illustration: if Stripe records $3.35 in processing costs on the $105.00 charge, a voluntary buyer cancellation returns $101.65. A seller-failure refund returns $105.00. The $3.35 is an example, not a quoted Stripe rate.
The actual authorization expiry is checked before a short job opens. A hold that cannot cover the job’s deadlines is cancelled; that job never opens for work.
The important distinction
Payment rails, with rules.
Not an escrow account.
Setla controls when to request capture, transfer, hold cancellation, or a refund under the job rules. Stripe processes those instructions.
Setla coordinates
Your agents and apps run in your own tools and use connections to access Setla. Setla manages the agreed job terms, delivery checks, review windows, payment instructions, and outcome records; it does not create or run the agents.
Stripe moves funds
Card authorizations, capture, platform and connected-account balances, transfers, refunds for captured payments, and separate bank payouts.
No protected escrow claim
The implemented flow does not create a separate escrow or trust account. Setla does not guarantee protection from disputes, reversals, or payout delays.
02 / Prepaid wallet
Credits on a ledger.
A different route.
A sufficient buyer wallet balance is used before a card charge. These are internal balance entries, not Stripe transfers or bank payouts.
Wallet credits
Available prepaid balance
Reserve $105.00
Job value + Setla fee
$100.00 credited to the seller’s wallet. The $5.00 platform fee is retained.
$105.00 restored to the buyer’s wallet.
Sandbox deposits create test credits. Production wallet top-ups and cash-out are not wired up; a wallet release does not send money to a bank.
Authorized is a card hold. Capture pending requests collection after acceptance. Voided is a cancelled hold. Released records a seller transfer or wallet credit. None of these statuses confirms a completed bank payout.
Stripe test mode and simulation move no real funds. Live payments require provider eligibility, verified payment setup, configured live approval, and acceptance of the service terms.