Easypay launches Escrow Buyer Protection in Pakistan for Online Payments

Telenor’s Easypaisa has launched Pakistan’s first Escrow Buyer Protection service to further secure online shopping via Easypay payment. With this process, customer’s payment will be held with Easypay before he/she verifies the product delivered and then release the payment to the merchant.

Although online shopping has witnessed exponential growth in recent years, an overall lack of trust and a perceived risk of fraud in online purchasing is a key barrier to the growth of this industry. A large number of Pakistani customers are still wary when it comes to making online purchases. The lack of trust remains as one of the main reasons why the Pakistani e-commerce market works primarily on Cash-on-Delivery (CoD).

Customers’ reservations range from the authenticity of merchants, product genuineness and condition; to the time it takes their orders to reach them. However, CoD has its own risks as a customer is not handed over the product(s) unless the cash payment is made to the courier representative.

With Easypay Buyer Protection (widely known as Escrow in online payment flow) customers will now be able to prepay with confidence for all their online purchases as it will hold payment from the merchant until the customer has received the product and communicated their satisfaction with the purchase.

In case the customer faces any issue with his purchase, for instance the product is not as advertised, or is damaged, they can raise a dispute with Easypay. Easypay Buyer Protection gives customers the right to a refund or replacement when items fail to match the information given prior to purchase.

Here is how it works

• The customer/buyer pays (with Easypay) at a partner online store.
• Easypay captures and holds the payment, then the store delivers the purchased product to the customer/buyer.
• The customer will have 7 days to raise a dispute from the point when product was delivered.
• The dispute form will be dispatched along with the shipment that customer will need to take out and fill it out with the current product status within 24 hours after receiving the product and email the copy of that checklist at buyer.protection@telenor.com.pk in case if product is damaged or has defect upon its delivery.

Else customer has 7 days to raise dispute from point when product was delivered.

• At this point when dispute is raised, 1st phase of dispute resolution initiates where the merchant and customer are given an opportunity to resolve the issue amongst themselves within the next 7 days.

In this phase, the merchant may call customer for clarification and resolution and both parties shall document their response over the email thread. If the merchant is able to have a settlement with customer, then both will be required to share their agreement and confirm Easypay buyer protection team about the decision.

• If the dispute remains unresolved within the phase 1, the 2nd phase of dispute resolution initiates for 7 more days

In the 2nd phase, the case will be escalated to Easypay dispute resolution committee which will assess the dispute details and supporting evidence (as provided earlier by the customer) to give a final decision in either party’s favor. The committee will also assess through the entire email thread where merchant and the customer have discussed the unresolved dispute.

• The dispute resolution committee will reply on the same thread acknowledging customer and the merchant about the decision and also giving the justification for it.
• In case merchant doesn’t actively respond on the email thread in the given time frame, then dispute shall go in customer’s favour.
• If customer’s dispute is right, funds shall be revered to him/her following Easypay reversal process.
• If merchant is right, customer shall keep the product and funds will be released to the merchant.
• Delivery disputes can be raised the same way if shipment is not received within listed delivery time period. e.g. if the merchant has listed a product that will take up to 5 days to deliver, customer will be able to raise the dispute it’s not delivered within 5 days.

Shedding light on this major development, Yahya Khan, Chief Financial Services Officer, Telenor Pakistan said,

Through Easypay Buyer Protection, we have come up with a solution that would boost Pakistani buyers’ confidence in online shopping, giving them the right to spend their hard-earned money only when they are satisfied with their purchase. This is the very first time that a Buyer Protection service has been introduced for online shoppers where the buyers will get their money back if they are dissatisfied with their purchase, and we are proud that Easypay has pioneered it. We really hope that Easypay Buyer Protection helps overcome trust and results in the growth of the local e-commerce sector.

Taking advantage of this new service offering, a number of online shopping sites have already signed up for Easypay Buyer Protection and amongst these are Homeshopping.pk, Well.pk & Techcity.pk.

You can learn more about the terms and conditions of Easypay Buyer Protection at their website.