An Austin, Texas-based company says it is expanding consumer protections in the real estate industry with the acquisition of a digital money transfer platform.
CertifID, a wire fraud protection firm, has acquired Paymints.io of Hoboken, New Jersey, in a move that will fortify its fight against cybercrime in home sales, according to Tyler Adams, CEO and co-founder of CertifID. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
U.S. consumers and businesses lost $1.9 billion in real estate funds during the sales process over the past decade, CertifID said, citing FBI statistics. What's more, CertifID reports that 1 in 20 homebuyers and sellers has become a fraud victim during a real estate closing.
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CertifID's existing business model verifies identities and wire instructions and checks for fraud before consumers, title companies, real estate brokerages and law firms wire funds during transactions. It also provides wire fraud insurance and funds recovery services.
Paymints.io is a digital payments product that allows customers to directly send and receive money rather than use wire transfers. It secures funds from the time buyers submit earnest money until sellers' mortgages are paid off, extending the security of transactions from beginning to end.
Buyers and sellers are among the most susceptible parties to real estate scammers, Adams said in an interview.
"I believe we'll be able to greatly improve security for homebuyers across the United States," he said. "That's a general passion of mine."
Paymints.io clients can use the existing product while the features are integrated into CertifID, according to the company. A virtual launch is planned for 11 a.m. Thursday.