Safe hands
The switchboard connects people. We've made it deliberately bad at holding things — money, identities, conversations. Those stay in hands built for holding them.
Worth saying first: most matches involve no money at all. A practice partner, a borrowed ladder, a carpool seat — nothing on this page applies to them, because there's nothing to hold.
They hold. We orchestrate.
| Thing | Who holds it | What the switchboard does |
|---|---|---|
| Your money | You, your bank, or a regulated payment processor | Records that both humans approved — then gets out of the way. We never take custody of funds. |
| Your identity | You (and your email + passkey provider) | Keeps an account spine so consent is real; shows the other side only what you approve. |
| Your price limits | The matching engine, sealed | Uses a ceiling or floor to detect overlap. It is structurally unreadable to the other side — and to us. |
| Your conversations after the match | You and the person you matched with | Patches you through, then leaves the call. |
| The record that you consented | An append-only consent log | Writes it once, immutably — so "you approved this" is provable, and nothing else is. |
When money is involved
A settlement is two approvals and a receipt. Here's the whole of it, as a ledger:
- 09:14:02 both parties matched · stage 3 unlocked by two humans
- 09:14:40 terms agreed: $640, pickup Saturday
- 09:15:11 buyer approved at the counter (passkey)
- 09:15:58 seller approved at the counter (PIN)
- 09:16:00 payment: chosen by the parties — cash on pickup
- 09:16:00 switchboard's role ends · consent receipt written
Cash is always allowed
"Cash on pickup" is a first-class way to settle, permanently. A network that forbids cash has quietly become a payments company; we'd rather not be one.
A fee only when money moves
Posting index cards, matching, being connected — free. If, at launch, you choose an in-network payment rail for a settlement, a fee can apply to that settlement. No money moved through us, no fee.
No custody, no float
The switchboard never holds a balance for you. There's no wallet to top up, no payout to wait for, no float earning interest that isn't yours.
The promises behind this page
Each row above is a clause of the Operator's Oath — the five things this switchboard won't do, written down so they outlast whoever runs it.