Payments & Compliance

Last updated: August 2026 PAYMENTS, CUSTODY & COMPLIANCE STATEMENT Purpose This statement describes how money moves on the eSlice platform, which regulated third parties handle it, and what eSlice does and does not do. It is written for investors, issuers, marketplace operators, and the payment and banking partners who review our platform. 1. eSlice Is a Software Platform eSlice, Inc. provides software and listing infrastructure. eSlice is not a bank, money transmitter, broker-dealer, investment adviser, escrow agent, or funding portal. eSlice does not hold, custody, or transmit investor funds and does not custody digital assets. 2. Platform Fees vs. Investment Capital There are two entirely separate money flows on eSlice: (a) Platform subscription and software fees. Sponsors, marketplace operators, and members pay eSlice recurring subscription fees and one-time software fees (for example, marketplace setup, SPV formation tooling, or ownership-registry maintenance). These are the only funds eSlice collects for its own account. They are billed by card or bank debit through a PCI-DSS compliant payment processor. (b) Investment capital. Funds an investor commits to an offering are transferred from the investor's verified bank account to an independent escrow agent (or directly to the issuer where an offering structure so provides). Investment capital never passes through eSlice accounts and is never commingled with eSlice operating funds. 3. Payment and Verification Rails - Bank payments — Straddle. Investment funding, distributions, and pay-by-bank transfers are processed by Straddle, a licensed US payments provider, directly between the investor's or issuer's bank account and the escrow agent or issuer. - Bank account verification — Plaid. Investors link and verify the bank account they fund from through Plaid, including account-ownership and balance verification, before any transfer is initiated. - Stablecoin settlement — Circle. Where an issuer elects USDC settlement, USDC is issued and redeemed by Circle, a regulated US money-services business. eSlice never custodies USDC or any digital asset, and eSlice does not offer token sales, initial coin offerings, token swaps, NFTs, or crypto trading. - Escrow — independent escrow agent. Offering proceeds are held by a qualified third-party escrow agent until the offering's closing conditions are met, then released to the issuer or returned to investors. - Identity — Plaid Identity Verification. Every participant completes identity verification (KYC), sanctions and watchlist screening (AML), and, where an exemption requires it, accredited-investor verification before funding. - Regional payment providers. Outside the United States, equivalent licensed local providers are used for bank transfers and platform-fee billing in each region in which eSlice operates. 4. Digital Ownership Records Some offerings maintain their ownership register on a permissioned digital ledger using the ERC-3643 standard for transfer-restricted digital securities. These records represent the same securities described in the offering documents; they are not a separate cryptocurrency, are not sold to the public as tokens, cannot be swapped or traded on public exchanges, and are subject to the same holding periods, transfer restrictions, and eligibility rules as any other security. Any fee described as an ownership-registry fee covers maintenance of these records. 5. Secondary Transfers Where an offering permits, holders may transfer securities to other eligible participants after applicable holding periods, subject to issuer approval and any regulatory requirements. Secondary transfers are not guaranteed to be available, and liquidity is not assured. eSlice does not operate a securities exchange or alternative trading system; where a registered intermediary is required, transfers are conducted through that intermediary. 6. Regulatory Status eSlice has an application pending with FINRA and the SEC for registration as a Regulation Crowdfunding funding portal. It has not been approved. Until approval, eSlice does not conduct Regulation Crowdfunding offerings and does not charge success-based fees on funds raised. Issuers conduct offerings under applicable exemptions (for example, Regulation D Rules 506(b) and 506(c), Regulation A, and Regulation S) with their own counsel and, where required, through registered intermediaries. 7. Data Security Card data is tokenized by our payment processors and never touches eSlice servers (PCI-DSS SAQ A scope). Bank credentials are handled exclusively by Plaid; eSlice never sees or stores them. All data in transit is encrypted with TLS 1.2 or higher and at rest with AES-256; tenant data is isolated at the database layer. 8. Complaints and Contact Payments questions: [email protected] Compliance questions or complaints: [email protected] Regulators: SEC (www.sec.gov/tcr), FINRA (www.finra.org/investors/have-problem), or your state securities regulator.