Dec 22, 2025
By The LiquidTrust team
LiquidTrust is a payments innovation company serving FIs, B2B platforms and SMBs globally.
As 2025 closes, hidden liabilities start to surface: disputes and reversals stack up, onboarding gaps slow GMV, and operator visibility issues create reconciliation debt. This marketplace risk review distills what quietly accumulated in 2025—and how to clear it before 2026 planning.
Marketplace risk review: the big five from 2025
Disputes & reversals became systemic. When conditionality is missing, unhappy-path flows default to manual fixes and clawbacks—eroding trust and inflating costs.
Onboarding leakage blocked GMV. Weak KYB/KYC creates late-stage failures, exceptions, and downstream risk—hurting conversion and cycle time.
Exception handling lacked structure. Refunds, partial releases, and corrections weren’t modeled as first-class states, so operators fought fires instead of resolving cases.
Reconciliation debt grew silently. Manual matching and spreadsheet workflows introduce drift; without a subledger, payouts and audit trails diverge.
Cross-border blind spots persisted. FX timing, sanctions checks, and evidence gaps compounded risk—especially for first-time or high-value counterparties.
What “good” looks like in 2026
Verification embedded: Right-sized KYB/KYC at the moment of risk, not after.
Conditional payments: Protect higher-value or first-time transactions with built-in conditionality (e.g., shipment/delivery/approval triggers).
Evidence-first workflows: Every state transition emits verifiable evidence for audits and disputes.
Subledgering & automated recon: A ledger-of-record for every participant; automated matching and exception queues.
Operator visibility: A real-time console for risk flags, exception queues, and payout states.
Micro Escrow™ (glossary)
Micro Escrow™: an embedded, conditional hold‑and‑release mechanism that safeguards funds until agreed conditions are met.
Quick diagnostic for your year-end review
Do we have conditional releases for high-value or first-time transactions?
Are KYB/KYC steps sequenced at the right moments?
Can ops resolve refunds/partial releases without leaving the console?
Does our subledger reconcile—programmatically—against custodial accounts?
Is cross-border context (FX, timing, sanctions) visible at approval/release?
Further reading
Download the 2026 Marketplace Risk Checklist to turn this review into action steps.
Learn more about how LiquidTrust helps B2B marketplaces build payment trust.
