A hold is not one kind of problem

To the Platform Council,

I oppose a rule that treats every payout hold as the same event and requires the same automatic outcome in every case. I do not oppose notice, a specific reason, review by a person or a limit on how long a platform can leave a seller without an answer. I oppose a deadline that makes money release automatic without distinguishing a review of the seller’s account from a payment that may not yet have been initiated or may be under a separate transaction check.

I am writing from Nairobi, and I am using my own records. I have kept the platform’s transaction history, the messages it sent, and the statements for the account where my payouts arrive. Those records let me say what happened without guessing about what was inside anyone else’s system.

What my records show

On 13 December 2025, my account page showed KSh 186,400 as due to me. On 15 December, the platform marked the payout as held and paused my account’s activity while it carried out an additional verification review. The notice did not identify a transaction, document or account detail that I could correct. It gave me a place to submit information, but no date by which a person would decide the review.

I submitted the documents requested on 16 December and saved the confirmation. On 22 December, I sent the same material through the available support channel and asked whether anything else was needed. My records show a receipt for that message, but not a substantive answer. I checked with my bank to establish whether a transfer had been initiated and was awaiting credit. There was no incoming transfer reference for the held amount. I did not ask the bank to decide whether the platform was right to review my account; that was not the bank’s role.

On 9 January 2026, the platform released KSh 42,000. The remaining KSh 144,400 was still held. My account became active again on 12 January. The remaining amount arrived on 27 January. From the first hold to the final payment was 45 days. From my document submission to the final payment was 42 days.

My notes do not tell me why the first KSh 42,000 was released when it was, or why the rest took longer. They do tell me that the hold was not resolved by sending the requested information once. I had to keep checking separate records: the account page, the support messages and the bank statement. The uncertainty was not only about the money. I could not tell whether to wait, submit something again, or expect a decision.

Why I oppose an automatic deadline

A fixed release date could help in a case like mine if it requires the platform to finish its review, explain any continued hold and give me a way to challenge the decision. But a rule that simply releases every held amount when the clock runs out could fail to address what actually happened. My records show two amounts released at different times, without an explanation I could use. An automatic payment alone would not tell me what triggered the hold or how to avoid another one.

There can also be a difference between a platform’s decision to pause an account and the status of a particular payment. A transfer may not have been sent yet; a bank or payment service may be checking a transaction; or the platform may be reviewing the account. Those are not interchangeable situations. A seller should not have to guess which one applies. But I do not think the Council should write a standard that presumes every held sum can safely be released on the same schedule, regardless of the reason.

Kenya’s Central Bank supervises regulated financial institutions and has a complaints process for issues involving those institutions. That is not a substitute for an appeal about a marketplace account decision. I contacted my bank only to check whether it had received or could trace a transfer. The platform needed to explain its own hold and provide a route to challenge its own decision.

What I ask the Council to change

Please distinguish an account review from a payment-processing delay, while requiring a clear process for both. For an account review, the platform should:

• give written notice that identifies the specific reason for the hold and the information, if any, needed from the seller;
• confirm receipt of submitted information and provide a dated review deadline;
• offer review by a person, with a way to challenge an incomplete or mistaken decision; and
• if money remains held after the deadline, explain why, identify the amount still held and set a further review date rather than leave the hold open-ended.

For a payment that has not been initiated or is being checked by a separate payment provider, the platform should say that clearly, identify the responsible step and give a date for the next update. A time limit still matters. It should mean that the seller receives an explanation and a real decision within a stated period—not that the platform can ignore the case until an automatic release happens, or that a seller must accept silence as the answer.

I know my records describe one case, not every seller’s experience. The Council is gathering evidence, and that is why I have set out dates, amounts and durations rather than claiming my case proves a universal rule. The Platform Council has counted 522 reports from 48 countries as of 4 April 2026.¹ Please use that evidence to build a standard that makes the process understandable and contestable, while keeping distinct situations distinct.

Notes and sources

1. Platform Council evidence count as of 4 April 2026. ↩