New research shared with Legal IT Insider by residential conveyancers Thomas Legal and risk management platform Thirdfort shows that Thirdfort’s KYC, AML and SoF verification tool cuts property transaction times by 21 days on average.
The year-long pilot, completed with a leading global estate agency, revealed that using Thirdfort’s risk management platform reduced conveyancing times by 16%.
The study also assessed the time savings possible by digitising the forms and searches required in a property transaction alongside electronic KYC, AML and SoF verification. Using digital tools across the transaction helped reduce the time taken from agreed heads of terms to exchange of contracts from 133 days on average to 59 days, a 55% reduction.
Simon David, CEO of Thomas Legal, said: “There is lots of uncertainty in today’s housing market with rising interest rates and house price movements. As a result, property transaction times are getting longer. But longer transaction times create even more uncertainty for buyers, sellers, estate agents and lawyers who become tied up in deals that aren’t progressing. So, conveyancers and agents must adopt solutions that can speed up the process and help get deals across the line.
“Buyers, sellers and their advisors can’t do anything without KYC, AML and SoF verification. Manual checks are often a sticking point, where the property transaction can slow to a halt as property professionals wait for results. Thirdfort is a game changer in this context, removing this friction, improving the client experience and enabling all involved in the property transaction to move forward.”
Thirdfort was founded in 2017 by Olly Thornton-Berry and Jack Bidgood and in 2018 joined Mishcon de Reya’s incubator MDR LAB. Mishcon subsequently became both a client and investor, and Thirdfort last year raised a £15m Series A led by Breega and Element Ventures. Their clients include estate agents and law firms and you can find a few of those listed here: https://www.thirdfort.com/our-clients/.