FAQ
Questions people ask first.
Plain answers to the things a first time visitor usually wants to know. If your question is not here, see the glossary or reach the desk on the contact page.
- Do I need an account?
- No. There are no accounts and no passwords. You fill out a submission with your details and the counterparty's email, and we give you a reference number. That reference number plus the email you submitted with is what proves you are a party to the deal.
- What happens if the other party never responds?
- Nothing moves and nothing is charged. A deal only links once both sides have submitted and named each other. Until your counterparty submits, your deal waits as awaiting the other party, and you can check back any time with your reference number. If they never submit, the deal simply never funds.
- What happens in a dispute?
- While the funds are held, either party can open a dispute from the status page. Opening one pauses the deal, so nothing releases while it is open. Both sides can add evidence, then a FairBank Escrow reviewer weighs it and decides one of two outcomes: release the funds to the seller, or refund the buyer. That decision closes the deal.
- How is the fee calculated?
- The fee is a single percentage of the deal value, and the percentage falls as the value rises: one point five percent under one thousand dollars, one point zero percent from one thousand to ten thousand, and zero point seven five percent from ten thousand to one hundred thousand. Above one hundred thousand dollars we quote the fee to fit the deal. Nothing is charged to submit; the fee is set once the deal is linked.
- How long does a deal usually take?
- That depends mostly on how quickly both parties act. Once the funds are sent and the terms are met, a reviewer typically approves the release within one to three business days. Confirming a wire or a coin has arrived, and the review itself, are the steps that take time; there is no fixed clock beyond that.
- What happens if someone submits false information?
- A deal only links when two submissions name each other and take opposite sides, so a single false submission does not create a deal on its own. If the two sides enter different values or details, a reviewer reconciles them before the deal proceeds. Funds are never released without a human review, which is where a mismatch or a false claim is caught. Suspicious activity is held rather than released.
- How do I check my deal?
- Use the reference number from your submission and the email you submitted with on the Check status page. You will see the current status, the terms, the fee, and the full history of the deal.
- When are funds released?
- Only once the terms are met and a FairBank Escrow reviewer approves the release. Funds stay held in escrow until then, and every release is recorded with the time it happened.
- What kinds of deal do you handle?
- Two kinds today: crypto to crypto swaps, where both legs are held and released together, and bank transfer to crypto, where a wire is exchanged for coin. The deal value you enter is the dollar figure the deal is worth, which is what the fee is based on.
- Is my money safe while it is held?
- The funds sit apart from the deal, in FairBank Escrow bank and crypto accounts, and neither party can pull them out from under the other. A person moves the money by hand and sets each status, and no release happens without a reviewer approving it first.