Electronic escrow system

1 . A method of managing an escrow transaction using an electronic payment system for a multi-party sale contract for a product, and using at least one one-time passcode issued by the electronic payment system so that said electronic payment system is limited to processing only authorized transactions, the method being executed by an online escrow system comprising at least one sending account, at least one receiving account, and a holding account, the method comprising:

a. a user logs into said electronic payment system using an email address, and a password, the user being an owner of the at least one sending account, and said user then creating the escrow transaction in the at least one sending account on said electronic payment system, the escrow transaction having at least one term and at least one payment related to said sale contract having at least one buyer, at least one third-party, and at least one seller, and said sale contract having a value based on funds in said sending account;

b. said user then using said electronic payment system adding the at least one receiving account to the at least one sending account on said electronic payment system to the sale contract, the at least one receiving account having at least one email, a receiving wallet identification and a phone number, wherein said receiving wallet identification is bound to said escrow transaction at creation;

c. said user then using said electronic payment system adding at least one third-party account to the at least one sending account to the sale contract, the at least one third-party account having at least one email, a third-party wallet identification, and a phone number;

d. said sending account on said electronic payment system setting a first fee;

e. said sending account on said electronic payment system setting a third-party fee;

f. said receiving account on said electronic payment system confirming said first fee;

g. said receiving account on said electronic payment system confirming a third party-fee;

h. said first fee and said third-party fee being added to said sale contract value by said electronic payment system;

i. said electronic payment system making available the product to said third-party;

j. said third-party validating the product;

k. said electronic payment system verifying the at least one sending account has sufficient funds greater than or equal to said contract value of said sale contract;

l. the at least one third-party account on said electronic payment system having at least one third-party email, a sending wallet identification and a third-party phone number;

m. the at least one sending account on said electronic payment system having at least one sending account email, the sending wallet identification and the phone number;

n. said electronic payment system verifying the at least one sending account has sufficient funds for said sale contract and that fees in steps (d)-(g) are accepted;

o. said electronic payment system notifying that an inspection has been approved;

p. said third-party performing a verification, the verification certifying whether all the terms of the said sale contract have been fulfilled, and the electronic payment system storing a verification certification associated with the escrow transaction, the verification certification comprising at least one file upload selected from: a tracking number, a product or software identifier, or an inspection report;

q. said electronic payment system notifying the buyer and the seller of the results of the verification certification, and when the verification certification indicates an adjustment to the sale contract value, adjusting the escrow amount accordingly and notifying the buyer and seller of an adjusted escrow amount;

r. said electronic payment system notifying the at least one receiving account of the escrow transaction using said receiving account email;

s. said electronic payment system notifying the at least one sending account of the escrow transaction using said sending account email;

t. said electronic payment system generating a first one-time passcode linked to said sending account and an escrow transaction only after completion of steps (f)-(n) such that said first one-time passcode contains the authorization to access and to send funds only from the sending account to the holding account and said sending account on said electronic payment system receiving said first one-time passcode for transferring the payment, the first one-time passcode being single-use and delivered to at least one registered contact channel selected from SMS, MMS, and email;

u. said electronic payment system transferring the payment for said sale contract value from the sending account to a holding account using said first one-time passcode to access said sending account, wherein upon said transfer the monies are locked from the sending account's available balance and the holding account is programmatically restricted from permitting any debit operation other than (i) release of escrowed funds to the receiving account authorized by a valid second one-time passcode for the escrow transaction and (ii) transfer of the third-party fee to the third-party account;

v. said holding account on said electronic payment system accepting the escrow transaction;

w. said electronic payment system generating a second one-time passcode linked to said receiving account and an escrow transaction only after the verification certification in step (p) is stored and while escrow days remain such that said second one-time passcode contains the authorization to access and to send funds only from the holding account to the receiving account identified in the escrow transaction and matching the receiving wallet identification bound in step (b), the second one-time passcode being single-use;

x. said electronic payment system sending the second one-time passcode to the receiving account via at least one of the registered contact channels;

y. said receiving account on said electronic payment system claiming the payment from the holding account using the second one-time passcode, and the electronic payment system rejecting any claim attempt using the second one-time passcode from a second receiving account whose second receiving wallet identification does not match the receiving wallet identification bound in step (b);

z. said holding account on said electronic payment system sending a notice that the escrow transaction is complete to said third-party at least one email; and

aa. said electronic payment system transferring said third-party fee to said third-party account from said holding account;

ab. when escrow days elapse prior to step (y), said electronic payment system refraining from issuing the second one-time passcode and initiating a cancellation flow by transmitting a cancellation one-time passcode to the buyer, the cancellation one-time passcode authorizing return of funds from the holding account to the sending account; and

ac. said electronic payment system recording escrow state transitions, passcode issuance events, and notifications in a user wallets' transaction history.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein said holding account is associated with said escrow transaction wherein the association includes at least one term and at least one payment related to said sale contract and said sale contract having a value based on funds in said sending account.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein said holding account can be accessed by said first one-time passcode to deposit funds and a second one-time password to withdraw funds and said first one-time password is unique to said escrow transaction and said second one-time password is unique to said escrow transaction.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein said first one-time passcode is linked to said sending account and said escrow transaction such that said first one-time passcode contains the authorization to access to send funds to said holding account and said holding account uses the first one-time passcode to credit the funds to said escrow transaction.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein said second one-time passcode is linked to said receiving account and said escrow transaction such that said second one-time passcode contains the authorization to access to receive funds from said holding account and said holding account uses the second one-time passcode to credit the funds to said receiving account wallet from said holding account and completing the escrow transaction.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein said first fee comprises a receiving account fee and a sending account fee.