By The LiquidTrust team
LiquidTrust is a payments innovation company serving FIs, B2B platforms and SMBs globally.

B2B marketplace compliance isn’t a legal footnote—it’s core to payments compliance and platform durability. In 2025, marketplaces that held funds or improvised escrow faced real balance‑sheet risk; the winners embedded structural trust and stayed out of flow of funds. This guide distills five field‑tested lessons you can put to work now.

Why this matters

For high‑value and cross‑border deals, reviews and badges can’t secure cash flow. Over 92% of SMBs worry about payment loss, and 80% of businesses were targeted by payment fraud last year—risk that marketplaces should not absorb. Embedding licensed custody and automated escrow directly into payments changes that equation.

Definition: Micro Escrow™ is a digital, transaction‑level escrow that holds funds in licensed, segregated accounts and releases them on verifiable conditions (e.g., delivery, document upload, milestone approval).

Lesson 1: Stay out of the flow of funds

If your platform ever touches, holds, or controls customer money—even briefly—you risk being treated as a money transmitter or unlicensed escrow agent. That’s a regulatory, operational, and balance‑sheet liability. Use a licensed, bank‑enabled custodial model so funds are never in your operating accounts.

What good looks like

• Licensed partner controls custody and release.

• Segregated custodial accounts; your marketplace never co‑mingles funds.

• Clear audit trails across every transaction.

Lesson 2: Make escrow logic native—not an afterthought

In B2B, escrow isn’t “nice to have.” It should be built into the payment flow with conditional release triggers (delivery confirmation, milestones, time‑bound approvals) and transparent dispute workflows—so high‑value deals complete with confidence. LiquidTrust™ offers Protected Pay powered by our patent‑pending micro escrow™ technology to embed these conditions directly in your flow.

Patterns to support

• Goods: hold‑until‑delivery + optional inspection window.

• Services/custom builds: milestone escrows with staged releases.

• First‑time pairs: escrow default to bridge the initial trust gap.

Lesson 3: Automate KYC/KYB/AML end‑to‑end

Compliance must be continuous, not just at onboarding. Bake KYC/KYB into buyer and seller creation, screen transactions for AML, and keep sanctions checks evergreen—without slowing UX. The provider, not your team, should own policy, screening, storage, and monitoring.

Practical guardrails

• Configurable verification thresholds by risk and transaction size.

• Re‑verification on triggers (e.g., large first payment, cross‑border, new payout destination).

• Centralized evidence logs to satisfy audits.

Lesson 4: Subledgering is your control tower

You need transaction‑level subledgers for every party, with real‑time balances for escrowed, cleared, and payable funds. Automatic reconciliation to custodial accounts minimizes finance fire drills and speeds month‑end close.

Outcomes

• One source of truth for payouts, fees, and disputes.

• Faster closes, fewer manual adjustments, audit ready by design.

Lesson 5: Design for global from day one

Cross‑border introduces FX, local rails, sanctions, and timing risk. Choose rails and partners with 200+ country coverage, SOC 2 controls, and bank‑grade custody so international payouts are routine—not special projects. LiquidTrust’s platform runs on J.P. Morgan’s global treasury rails, with an all‑in 1% fee for Protected Pay, making protection easy to price and adopt.

Implementation checklist

• Map when/why funds should be held or released.

• Select a licensed custodial/escrow model (keep platform out of custody).

• Configure KYC/KYB thresholds and review queues.

• Turn on subledgers + automated reconciliation.

• Pilot global payouts (one corridor first), validate FX, SLAs, and notifications.

• Publish a transparent buyer/seller “How funds move” explainer.

Quick Q&A

Do we need an escrow license?
Not if you operate under a licensed, bank‑enabled custodial structure via your provider; your platform should avoid fund custody entirely.

How should we price protection?
Many marketplaces pass through an all‑in protection fee (e.g., 1% for Micro Escrow‑backed Protected Pay) or monetize a portion as a value‑add. Model both and choose by segment.

Learn more about how LiquidTrust helps B2B marketplaces build payment trust.