What if you could take control over client money without taking on the risk of actually holding it?
Custody is Kord’s third-party managed account (TPMA) solution. Instead of juggling multiple systems for payments, client money, identity verification, and reconciliation, you can bring everything inside one closed loop where money moves on secure rails between ring-fenced, per-matter accounts and e-money wallets bound to verified client identities.
Every account has its own details inherently linked to each matter, so every payment request comes pre-filled, with no gaps for APP fraudsters to exploit. Payments and payouts must be requested and authorised within the system, so no money moves without full visibility, while Faster Payments and High Value Payments ensure they can be made 24/7 with no cutoff point.
You never have to hold client money again. Kord takes care of transaction flows, while client money is held by ClearBank in accounts under your firm’s name, ring-fenced and segregated from your accounts. Funds are obtained and disbursed with compliance built into every step.
With funds inherently linked to each matter, payments arrive automatically reconciled and referenced, with no commingling of funds. This ensures you can meet SRA client money expectations without the compliance extra legwork.
Matters are linked to client identities confirmed and cross-referenced upon onboarding, so funds only move between verified accounts. Payments must be requested and authorised within the closed loop, and no money leaves the client’s wallet without their permission.
Every step of the way, Kord generates a real-time, end-to-end audit trail, so identity checks, payments, and client money all form one record ready for inspection. Each payment is properly allocated, reconciled, and referenced, reducing manual record keeping and improving accuracy.
Opening and operating a Kord Custody account is simple and straightforward, yet secure by design. Here’s how a payment or payout might operate for a typical matter.
The firm opens a Custody Workspace Account for each workspace, then a segregated Custody Transaction Account or Joint Custody Transaction Account for each matter. Accounts are ring-fenced and safeguarded, with funds held by ClearBank. Firms can address Confirmation of Payee in their name so clients know they’re paying the right account.
The client opens a Checkboard Wallet on the Checkboard app (part of the Kord network) and completes identity verification and source-of-funds checks. Each Wallet (and therefore each matter) is linked to this verified identity.
Note: This is an optional step; clients can also pay via bank transfer or by credit and debit card, but they will still have to verify their identity.
The firm initiates a payment request linked to the matter, instead of sending client bank details. The client receives a notification in their Checkboard app with the account details pre-filled, so they cannot be spoofed by fraudsters.
Clients can pre-fund their matter account or do so when the payment request is received. No payment will leave the client’s wallet without their express authority; clients can pause any payment they deem suspicious.
If a firm needs to make a payment—such as the payout from a claim or a refund of excess funds—it can do so directly to the client’s Checkboard Wallet. Standard payouts are made instantly by Faster Payments, or by High Value Payout 15 minutes after final approval, available 24/7 with no cutoff time. The highest-value payments are made by CHAPS. Payouts require maker-checker approval.
Within the overarching CWA, funds are automatically reconciled and referenced. There is no commingling of funds; the per-matter account structure means each payment is bound to the identity verified at matter creation.
While all this is going on, Kord is generating a real-time, regulator-ready end-to-end audit trail from onboarding and verification to payment and payout.
This is the firm’s workspace account. You open one per workspace; every CTA and JCTA exists underneath it. Accounts are safeguarded and segregated from Kord’s and the firm’s own accounts.
The CWA givs you live visibility of balances and transactions, updating as soon as payments arrive and leave, with downloadable statements.
This is also where you set the controls—such as approvers, payees, and caps—governing the CTAs and JCTAs beneath it. You can move money between your CWA and transaction accounts without the funds leaving the secure Kord network.
The CTA is a per-matter account, with a sort code, account number, and reference. It is shared with your client; once they are onboarded they will gain visibility over the account, its balance, and its movements in real time. You can address Confirmation of Payee in your firm’s name so any client paying this account sees your firm as the reference.
When your firm keys in a payment on the account, your client is notified. If they don’t recognise the payment, they can hold it, giving them the opportunity to press pause on anything they deem unexpected.
This is the joint version of the CTA, used when a matter has more than one client. It has a per-client sub-ledger so each client’s payments are tracked individually within the single account.
The Checkboard Wallet is your client’s own e-money account on the Kord network. It receives funds, moves money to a matter, and withdraws to the client’s own bank account. The Checkboard Wallet is not a per-matter account, and a client verified on one transaction can continue to use it for future matters.
| Included | CTA | JCTA |
|---|---|---|
| Connected party checks | Up to two parties | Up to six parties |
| Faster Payments and wallet payouts | 20 per matter | 40 per matter |
| Outbound CHAPS payments | Two per account | Two per account |
| High Value Payouts | Four per account | Four per account |
| Client wallet | Included | Included |
| Reg 39 reliance pack | Included | Included |
| Account provision | 12-month term; renews if a balance remains | 12-month term; renews if a balance remains |
Every payment your firm initiates out of a CWA, CTA, or JCTA requires maker-checker approval. This means the person who raises a payment can never be the person to release it; a compromised API alone cannot move client money.
A payment request is made through the API. The API cannot approve a payment, just create the instruction.
The payment is pending until it is manually approved.
A separate, independently authenticated approver reviews and releases the transaction.
Here, the system is the maker, and a verified person is the checker. Approval can only happen on the dashboard through a separate approver; your firm can name custom approvers on the CWA or on an individual CTA or JCTA. Self-approval is impossible.
With Kord, there’s nowhere for attackers to exploit. Every request is protected by six layers of security to ensure each one is secure.
Every request carries your firm’s API key. API keys only work within your TPMA and can be revoked the moment they are compromised.
Requests are cryptographically signed with your firm’s private key using ECDSA. This unique digital signature proves your firm made the request.
Each request has an idempotency key, which ensures the server only performs the request once even if it's made multiple times, preventing duplicate payments or accounts from being created.
Requests are only accepted from the IP addresses your firm has registered, so nobody outside your organisation can access your accounts.
Rate limiting prevents brute-force login attempts and other malicious attacks by placing a limit on how many times a user or client can repeat an action.
Every firm operates on its own subdomain. Your keys only work with your subdomain, so all your traffic and data are isolated from every other account on the Kord platform.
Kord Custody is designed so the finance team and fee earners work hand in hand for both matter visibility and transaction speed. The maker-checker dual approval process allows fee earners and cashiers to raise payments with their designated approvers, bringing a level of speed and agility previously reserved for the finance team.
The Payment Services Regulations 2017 require client funds to be kept apart from the operator's own money. No money is actually held by Kord at all. It is held in accounts at regulated banking partner ClearBank, so nobody at Kord is able to instruct a transfer in the way a solicitor with rights over their own firm’s account could.
Reconciliation happens continuously, matched automatically to the ledger held by ClearBank, not compiled by a member of staff from a spreadsheet. Because accounts are opened on a per-matter basis, there are no commingled funds to allocate in the first place. However, this does not remove the ultimate responsibility from the law firm to ensure all accounts are accurate and up to date.
Kord Custody replaces multiple disconnected payments and accountancy systems with a single integrated matter account, alleviating the burden of reconciliation, bank charges, specialist accounting systems, fraud exposure, residual balances, the COFA's personal liability, and the full weight of SRA Rules 2–8.
Kord is regarded as a relevant person by FCA rules, with reporting obligations to the National Crime Agency. If we deem something to be suspicious, our internal team will file a report. We can also potentially withhold a payment. This does not discharge your own reporting obligations.
