Why We Built StayVia with Escrow-First Architecture

When we started building StayVia, we knew that trust was the single biggest barrier preventing Africans from booking short-term apartments online. Unlike mature markets where platforms like Airbnb have years of trust built up, the African market needed something different — a system where neither party could lose money unfairly.

That's why we built StayVia with an escrow-first architecture. Every booking creates a secure wallet hold. The guest's money is protected until 24 hours after check-in, giving them time to verify the apartment matches its listing. If there's an issue, our dispute resolution process kicks in automatically.

This required building a full double-entry ledger system with 11 internal account types — essentially an accounting system inside a booking platform. But it was worth it. Trust is no longer a barrier to booking.

Full article coming soon. Stay tuned for the deep technical dive.