diff --git a/src/escrow/escrow.controller.ts b/src/escrow/escrow.controller.ts
index 8387138..16683bb 100644
--- a/src/escrow/escrow.controller.ts
+++ b/src/escrow/escrow.controller.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { FundEscrowDto } from './dto/fund-escrow.dto';
 import { ReleaseEscrowDto } from './dto/release-escrow.dto';
 import { SplitReleaseDto } from './dto/split-release.dto';
 import { toPublicEscrow } from './escrow-response.mapper';
+import { toPublicPayments } from './payment-response.mapper';
 import { Idempotent } from '../common/idempotency/idempotent.decorator';
 
 @ApiTags('escrow')
@@ -37,8 +38,10 @@ export class EscrowController {
 
   @Idempotent('escrow.splitRelease')
   @Post(':id/split-release')
-  splitRelease(@Param('id') id: string, @Body() dto: SplitReleaseDto) {
-    return this.escrowService.splitRelease(id, dto.recipients);
+  async splitRelease(@Param('id') id: string, @Body() dto: SplitReleaseDto) {
+    return toPublicPayments(
+      await this.escrowService.splitRelease(id, dto.recipients),
+    );
   }
 
   @Idempotent('escrow.refund')
diff --git a/src/escrow/payment-response.mapper.spec.ts b/src/escrow/payment-response.mapper.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74d6a9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/escrow/payment-response.mapper.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import { Payment } from '../common/entities';
+import { AssetType, PaymentStatus } from '../common/enums';
+import { toPublicPayment, toPublicPayments } from './payment-response.mapper';
+
+function makePayment(overrides: Partial<Payment> = {}): Payment {
+  return {
+    id: 'pay_1',
+    escrow: null as unknown as Payment['escrow'],
+    escrowId: 'esc_1',
+    recipient: null,
+    recipientId: 'user_1',
+    recipientAddress: 'GRECIPIENT',
+    amount: '50.0000000',
+    asset: AssetType.USDC,
+    splitPercentage: '50.00',
+    status: PaymentStatus.PENDING,
+    txHash: null,
+    createdAt: new Date(),
+    updatedAt: new Date(),
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+describe('toPublicPayment', () => {
+  it('preserves every field unchanged', () => {
+    const payment = makePayment();
+
+    const publicPayment = toPublicPayment(payment);
+
+    expect(publicPayment).toMatchObject({
+      id: 'pay_1',
+      escrowId: 'esc_1',
+      recipientId: 'user_1',
+      amount: '50.0000000',
+      status: PaymentStatus.PENDING,
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('toPublicPayments', () => {
+  it('maps every payment in the array', () => {
+    const payments = [
+      makePayment({ id: 'pay_1' }),
+      makePayment({ id: 'pay_2' }),
+    ];
+
+    const publicPayments = toPublicPayments(payments);
+
+    expect(publicPayments).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(publicPayments.map((p) => p.id)).toEqual(['pay_1', 'pay_2']);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/escrow/payment-response.mapper.ts b/src/escrow/payment-response.mapper.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76e39cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/escrow/payment-response.mapper.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { Payment } from '../common/entities';
+
+export type PublicPayment = Payment;
+
+/**
+ * Thin passthrough today — Payment doesn't carry anything as sensitive as
+ * Escrow.metadata yet. Exists so splitRelease follows the same
+ * controller-boundary mapping pattern as every other escrow endpoint
+ * (see toPublicEscrow), so a future internal-only field added to Payment
+ * has somewhere to be stripped instead of leaking by default.
+ */
+export function toPublicPayment(payment: Payment): PublicPayment {
+  return payment;
+}
+
+export function toPublicPayments(payments: Payment[]): PublicPayment[] {
+  return payments.map(toPublicPayment);
+}