Payload, a rapidly growing fintech, announces a partnership with Premier Data Services to launch an integration with SoftPro, the nation’s leading provider of closing, escrow and closing software. The integration will deliver secure, fully embedded electronic payments for real estate closing disbursements and payouts. At a typical real estate closing, seven to ten parties receive various payment types that may include broker/agent commissions, underwriter fees, title search fees, taxes, payoffs, seller proceeds, among others; traditionally, proceeds are issued through a mix of legacy check and wire payments.
“The title industry is experiencing significant digital transformation with the introduction of RON, e-signature, and electronic content management,” said Zach Jacob, Vice President of Partnerships at Payload. “Yet the payment landscape remains heavily reliant on check and wire, presenting multiple inefficiencies at the most critical point of the transaction, the exchange of money.” Wire transfers are oftentimes expensive, lack any meaningful reconciliation data, and remain the primary target for payment fraud. According to American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) 2021 Wire Fraud and Cyber Crime Survey, title insurance professionals reported cyber criminals attempting to trick employees to wire funds to a fraudulent account in one-third of all real estate and mortgage transactions.
Check payments are notoriously manual and slow, and oftentimes lost or delayed due to mailing system inconsistencies. Check fraud is also on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reporting a 65% increase in check scams since 2015 levels. The Payload Payouts API is designed to harness the Automated Clearing House (ACH) and Real Time Payments to send payments to any person or business. ACH transactions offer users built-in fraud protection through its inherent payment traceability and recourse features. “The Payload API offers powerful customization capabilities that allow us to design a fully embedded user experience,” said Jay Roberts, PDS Chief Technology Officer. “At a fraction of the cost of check or wire, SoftPro users can send same-day digital payments from within our system and enjoy several administrative and reporting features to automate the payment workflow from start to finish.”
