October 20, 2026 | New York
LiquidTrust™ participated in the 2026 Datos Insights Commercial and Small Business Banking Forum in New York, where Founder and CEO Saujin Yi joined the Innovation Showcase to discuss how banks can bridge the “trust gap” in B2B transactions by bringing digitized escrow protection to everyday business payments through Micro Escrow®.
The discussion highlighted a persistent challenge in commercial banking: faster payments do not necessarily mean safer transactions.
As banks modernize their payment infrastructure, businesses continue to face risks when transacting with unfamiliar counterparties, particularly when payment and delivery happen at different times.
Addressing the Trust Gap in Business Payments
The trust gap is the disconnect between moving money and ensuring both parties fulfill their transaction obligations. It exists because payment systems are designed to transfer funds, not necessarily to protect against non-delivery, non-payment, or unmet transaction terms.
Traditional escrow has long helped protect high-value transactions in real estate, international trade, and mergers and acquisitions. However, its manual processes and administrative costs have historically limited its use in smaller business transactions.
LiquidTrust's Micro Escrow brings these established protections into digital payment infrastructure, combining counterparty verification, conditional holding and release of funds, money movement, and structured dispute resolution in one workflow.
For banks, this creates an opportunity to extend payment protection to business transactions that may be too large for credit card-based protections but too small for traditional trade finance.
Adding Trust Without Replacing Payment Rails
A key focus of LiquidTrust's showcase was how banks can introduce transaction protection without replacing their existing payment infrastructure.
While banks and payment providers have invested heavily in fraud detection and prevention, many transaction issues are still addressed after money has moved, when recovering funds or resolving disputes can be difficult. Micro Escrow helps shift protection earlier in the payment process by verifying counterparties and establishing conditions for releasing funds before a transaction is completed. This allows banks to take a more proactive approach to managing counterparty risk rather than relying solely on remedies after something goes wrong.
Micro Escrow is designed to work alongside ACH, wire, real-time payments, and cross-border payment networks.
Through white-label and API-based integration, banks can offer payment protection within their existing digital banking experiences while maintaining their direct relationships with business customers.
Potential use cases include payments to new suppliers, cross-border trade, high-value purchases, and milestone-based transactions.
Beyond helping businesses manage counterparty risk, embedded escrow can also create opportunities for banks to expand their commercial payment offerings and strengthen customer relationships.
The Future of Business Payments Requires More Than Speed
As commercial banking continues to evolve, payment modernization is about more than moving money faster.
Businesses also need confidence that their counterparties are verified, transaction conditions are clear, and funds are released according to agreed terms.
At the 2026 Datos Insights Commercial and Small Business Banking Forum, LiquidTrust highlighted how Micro Escrow can help banks bring these capabilities into everyday business payments.
Payment infrastructure moves money. Trust infrastructure helps businesses transact with greater confidence.
Learn more about LiquidTrust Micro Escrow and how financial institutions can embed payment protection into their existing banking experiences.
About LiquidTrust
LiquidTrust is a payments innovation company serving financial institutions, B2B platforms, and SMBs globally. Its Micro Escrow® technology brings counterparty verification, conditional payments, and structured dispute resolution into digital payment workflows.
LiquidTrust was named to the Datos Insights Fintech 50 in 2025 and received Silver for Best Innovation in Product Development in the 2025 Datos Impact Awards: Commercial Banking & Payments.
