Governance Fee
Priced on disbursement.
Earned on verified release.
Vektrum charges a governance fee only when a milestone release completes — 10 conditions verified simultaneously and release authorized. Payment execution runs through Stripe Connect or the funder's institutional partner. We earn when the release executes.
Who pays
Funder
Contractors are always free
When
After release
Stripe rail: after transfer · External rail: invoiced after execution verified
How
% of release
1% standalone · lower with retainer
Minimum fee
$50
Per verified disbursement
What this fee covers
Not software licensing. Controlled disbursement infrastructure.
For details on access control, audit-log design, and webhook signing, see the Security overview. For workflow questions, see the Help / FAQ.
Controlled disbursement
Funds only transfer after 10 server-side conditions are satisfied simultaneously. No manual override. Every release is a uniquely identified, server-verified event.
Append-only audit infrastructure
Every approval, release, and status change is logged server-side with a UTC timestamp and actor identity. Records are append-only — the application never modifies or removes a logged entry.
Milestone-level dispute isolation
A disputed draw locks one milestone. The remaining balance continues to flow on schedule. One contractor disagreement does not freeze your portfolio.
The cost of getting it wrong
1% of what moves.
A fraction of what bad releases cost.
Estimates based on published construction litigation data and industry loss reporting. Actual costs vary by jurisdiction, deal size, and complexity.
In context
$5,000,000 construction deal · 5 milestones
1% × $5,000,000 disbursed across all milestones
One avoided dispute on this deal:
One avoided dispute on a $5M deal pays for Vektrum governance one to three times over.
Fee structure
Three engagement models. One underlying structure.
Every model uses the same logic: a governance fee charged per verified disbursement. Institutional and Enterprise models add an annual retainer in exchange for a lower per-release rate.
How the two fees work together
The annual retainer is a platform/governance fee based on active construction volume; the per-release fee applies only to authorized disbursements. These are separate fee bases.
Annual retainer
Platform / governance fee covering portfolio governance, implementation, support, and operational review scope. Sized by Active Construction Volume.
Per-release fee
Applies only to authorized disbursements. $0 until a release is authorized. The retainer is credited against per-release fees through the year, so you do not pay twice for the same release.
Standalone
$500,000 release → $5,000 governance fee
Stripe Connect rail — for direct lenders · Independent projects · Developers · Private lenders
None
Pay only when a milestone closes
Self-service — no setup fee
- 10-condition server-side release gate
- Milestone-level dispute isolation
- Append-only, timestamped audit trail
- Stripe Connect payouts to contractor
- $250 refundable commitment deposit
Institutional Portfolio
$500,000 release → $3,500 governance fee
External rail — for lenders with existing payment infrastructure · Banks · Private credit funds · Regional lenders
7.5 bps of ACV / year
Floor $5,000 · Cap $50,000 · Credited against per-release fees
$5,000 – $15,000 one-time
- Everything in Standalone
- Portfolio risk dashboard + release readiness scores
- Annual retainer credited against per-release fees throughout the year
- Annual retainer based on Active Construction Volume
- Priority onboarding and support
- Rate reverts to 1% without active retainer
Enterprise / Platform
$500,000 release → $3,250 governance fee
External rail — for lenders with existing payment infrastructure · Large lenders · Construction owners · Platform integrators
50 – 100 bps of ACV / year
Floor $25,000 — negotiated annually
$15,000 – $50,000 — integration included
- Everything in Institutional
- LOS / core banking API integration (included)
- Dedicated customer success manager
- 99.9% uptime SLA
- Audit export for regulatory compliance
- Custom MSA and addendum available
The math
What it looks like at your scale.
Standalone
$750K project · 3 milestones
No setup fee. No monthly charge. $250 deposit refunded at close.
Institutional Portfolio
$30M ACV · 24 releases / year
Annual governance retainer
7.5 bps × $30M
Per-release fees
0.70% × 24 × avg $250K
Annual retainer credited against per-release fees throughout the year.
Enterprise
$80M ACV · 40 releases / year
Annual governance retainer
65 bps × $80M
Per-release fees
0.65% × 40 × avg $500K
Includes API integration, dedicated CSM, and custom MSA. Rate negotiated annually.
Traditional construction platform licensing at comparable institutional scale typically runs $100,000–$300,000 / yr. Vektrum charges only when funds move.
What changes
When governance is systematic.
Manual draw management
Draw approval
Email threads and PDFs — no timestamp, no actor log, no trail
Dispute handling
Entire deal funding freezes until the dispute is resolved
Duplicate releases
No programmatic protection — manual coordination required
Audit trail
Spreadsheets and email archives — inconsistent, modifiable, incomplete
Fund flow
Funder holds capital and initiates each wire transfer manually
Compliance export
Manual compilation on request — time-consuming, error-prone
With Vektrum governance
10-condition server-side gate
Every condition verified simultaneously. Timestamped audit entry on every decision.
Milestone-level isolation
Disputed milestone locked. All others continue to release on schedule.
Idempotent release logic
Duplicate releases prevented at the database level — idempotent by design.
Append-only audit log
Every action server-logged, actor-attributed, and UTC-timestamped. No application-level deletion.
Stripe custody + governance layer
Stripe holds capital. Vektrum governs release. Neither entity touches both.
Audit log export
Full log available for export — structured, timestamped, and actor-attributed.
Vektrum does not hold your money.
For Stripe-rail deals, funds are held in Stripe Connect managed accounts — not by Vektrum. For external/institutional rail deals, funds never touch Vektrum at all: your existing bank, escrow, title company, or treasury executes payment on your rail.
Every action is logged and append-only.
The audit log is append-only at the application layer. Every status change is timestamped and attributed to a named actor. The application never modifies or removes a logged entry.
We earn when you succeed.
No software license. No monthly access fee. The governance fee is charged only on successful disbursement — our incentives align exactly with yours.
Universal across all models
These never change.
Choosing your model
Which plan is right for me?
Standalone — Stripe Connect rail
Choose Standalone if you are a private lender, hard money lender, family office, or developer who does not have an existing payment infrastructure. Vektrum connects to Stripe and manages the full draw workflow end-to-end: submission, AI review, 10-condition gate, and automated contractor payout.
Institutional or Enterprise — External rail
Choose Institutional or Enterprise if you are a bank, credit union, construction loan servicer, title company, or fund manager with existing licensed payment infrastructure. Vektrum enforces your conditions and fires a signed authorization signal to your execution system — you retain full control of how funds move.
How billing works by rail
Keep your payment rail. Vektrum bills for release-control infrastructure.
Stripe Connect rail
Governance fees are applied after the Stripe transfer completes. No separate invoice is required — fees are automated through the Stripe rail where supported. Pricing is based on authorized releases and deal volume.
External / institutional rail
External/manual rail customers are invoiced directly for platform access, deal volume, and authorized releases. Vektrum does not deduct fees from contractor disbursements — your rail executes payment in full. Pricing is custom institutional; contact us to configure your engagement.
Frequently asked
How does Vektrum get paid on external/manual rails?
Vektrum invoices the funder, partner, or customer for the release-control platform. The customer's existing rail executes payment; Vektrum does not deduct fees from contractor disbursements on external/manual rails.
Does Vektrum take a percentage of the wire or ACH transfer?
No. On external/manual rail deals, funds never touch Vektrum infrastructure. Vektrum records the authorization and confirmation; your bank or treasury partner executes payment. The governance fee is a separate invoice from Vektrum — not a deduction from the contractor's payment.
Is there a monthly software fee?
Standalone (Stripe rail): no monthly fee — governance fees are per verified disbursement only. Institutional and Enterprise (external rail): an annual governance retainer applies, invoiced in advance, credited against per-release fees throughout the year. See the fee structure above for retainer rates.
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