Where are my funds, and who can release them?

SHYLDA does not hold your funds. Payment services are provided by financial partners, while SHYLDA follows the conditions accepted for your Deal. The amount allocated to the Deal is different from the balance you have not committed to it.

Imagine agreeing to buy a used phone. The Seller needs to know the agreed amount is secured before arranging delivery. You need to know what must happen before that amount is released. The Shyld Agreement records those conditions before protection begins; it does not leave either person to invent them afterward.

Accepting a Deal Draft is a step toward agreeing the Deal. It does not activate Shyld protection. The Buyer must review the final agreement, amounts, fees, and release conditions, then select Secure with Shyld.

Until that happens, neither person should treat a shared link, an accepted draft, or a payment screenshot as proof that the Deal is protected. The Seller should check the Deal itself before sending goods or starting work.

A Seller cannot replace the accepted release conditions with a request in a message. Follow the action available in your Deal, and read what it authorizes before using your private release passcode.

For meet-and-inspect goods, final release requires the Buyer's separate authorization after the agreed inspection and handoff steps. Receiving goods for later review follows a different rule. Do not share your release passcode with the Seller or use a completion action just to reassure them.

A Support Request can help you understand the next step, gather the relevant context, or work through a concern with the other participant. It does not give support permission to choose a financial outcome.

Any release or return must follow the predefined agreement or an applicable participant agreement recorded in the Deal. If something is wrong, use the Dispute path within the applicable window. Asking support in a separate message is not a substitute for opening a Dispute.

Some Deals include an automatic release condition that the Buyer accepts during Secure with Shyld. In the receive-and-review goods journey, code-confirmed receipt starts the review window. If that window ends without a Dispute, the agreed rule allows release.

Some service approvals also authorize release when the agreed final work is handed over. A Dispute pauses ordinary release, but an agreed return may have its own outcomes and deadlines. Read which rule applies to your Deal; protection does not mean every amount waits indefinitely for another confirmation.

Review the item or work, the full amount, who covers each fee, the receiving or completion steps, and the deadline for raising a concern. If a condition is unclear, resolve it before Secure with Shyld. Once funds have been finally released, a new Dispute cannot reverse that release.