What "non-custodial" means when you split expenses

Non-custodial means the service never holds your money. When you split expenses with a non-custodial app, the funds stay in your own wallet the whole time, and nothing moves without your signature. The app is the layer that lets a group settle, not a middleman sitting on a balance.

That distinction sounds technical, but for splitting expenses it changes who is in control. Here is what it means in practice.

What does non-custodial mean?

Non-custodial means custody of the funds never leaves the user. A custodial service (a bank, most payment apps) takes your money into an account it controls, then moves it on your behalf. A non-custodial service never takes custody: it can only act on a transfer you have signed yourself.

Spliz is non-custodial. It cannot hold a balance, freeze funds, or move money on its own. It works out the net balances and prepares the settlement, but the actual transfer only happens when each person signs.

Where does the money actually sit?

The money sits in each member’s own wallet, in USDC, until the moment of settlement. There is no Spliz account holding a pooled balance between transactions. When the group settles, USDC moves directly from one wallet to another on Base, in a single transaction.

• Sign in with Google or Apple and a wallet is created for you, owned by you.
• Or connect a wallet you already use.
• Either way, the keys and the balance are yours, not Spliz’s.

Can Spliz move your money without you?

No. Every settlement requires a signature from each participant whose balance is not zero. The approval is an EIP-712 signed consensus: the group agrees on the exact balances, and only then can the transfer run. No admin, no Spliz operator, can settle on your behalf.

Because settlement is atomic, there is no in-between state where Spliz is holding the money mid-transfer. Either every net balance moves in one transaction, or none does.

Why does non-custodial matter for splitting expenses?

It matters because the awkward part of splitting expenses has always been trust: someone fronts the money and then has to chase everyone else. A non-custodial settlement removes the middle entirely. You are not trusting an app to hold a pot and pay it out, you are settling directly, peer to peer, the moment everyone agrees.

It also means there is no balance for Spliz to lose, freeze, or mismanage. The money was never in Spliz’s hands to begin with.

Is non-custodial the same as a crypto wallet?

Not quite. A wallet holds your funds; a non-custodial app like Spliz coordinates a settlement between wallets without ever taking custody. You do not need any crypto experience to use it: the wallet is created for you on sign-in, you never touch gas (Spliz’s relayer covers it), and friends can even join in guest mode with no account.

The only cost is a 0.1% fee at settlement in USDC, a $0.10 minimum on small amounts, shown before you sign.

The short version

• Non-custodial = the service never holds your money.
• Funds stay in your own wallet, in USDC, until settlement.
• Nothing moves without your signature (EIP-712 consensus).
• Settlement is atomic and peer-to-peer, on Base.

Spliz is live on iOS and Android, and the roadmap is public.

Your money stays yours. Spliz just lets the group settle it.