“We’re so excited to be partnering with Thirdfort and launching their innovative client app which takes the pain out of client ID verification”
tmgroup, the leading provider of property searches and data, has today announced its new partnership with Thirdfort to offer conveyancers the latest in risk mitigation technology. Onboarding clients is one of the biggest risks for conveyancers, requiring a lengthy, time-consuming process to perform necessary due diligence – and even then risking something “falling through the cracks” of human error.
Using Thirdfort’s simple and secure customer-facing app – now available via tmconvey and tmconnect – conveyancers can onboard clients up to 80% faster by empowering them to complete digital identity and source of funds checks remotely. With data provided by Experian, LexisNexis, ComplyAdvantage, and more, Thirdfort also offers a reliable way to carry out PEPs, sanctions and adverse media checks.
Thirdfort makes it far easier to catch out fake ID documents
Partnering with Onfido, whose technology is trusted by Barclays and Santander, Thirdfort verifies identity documents in minutes and uses facial recognition technology (similar to that used by e-gates at border control) to cross check the identity – all to help give conveyancers confidence about who they’re doing business with.
This is particularly pertinent given that fake ID documents – made with such attention to detail it can be difficult to spot the subtle differences – can be bought online for as little as £5, and that property continues to account for over 70% of fraud in the UK.
Olly Thornton-Berry, MD and Co-founder of Thirdfort commented:
“We are thrilled to partner with tmgroup to stamp out fraud in property transactions. Now more than ever, solicitors and conveyancers need to be diligent about levels of fraud which have increased during the pandemic. Thirdfort is the new standard in legal security and we are excited to work with tmgroup to offer their customers automated client ID and source of funds checks – helping them to speed up client onboarding and dramatically reduce risk.”
The ‘purchase funds’ questionnaire makes it easy for clients to prove where their money is from
The app also features a questionnaire which prompts property buyers to account for the source of any purchase funds. This information can then be cross-checked with bank statements retrieved through the unique ‘bank linking’ feature which uses Government backed Open Banking technology. Supported by an FCA licence, this allows customers to login to their online banking securely via the Thirdfort app and select the financial information they wish to share. The findings of all checks are then sent to the conveyancer in a single, clear to read report – including a scan of the photo ID for their records.
Paul Albone, CTO at tmgroup commented:
“We’re so excited to be partnering with Thirdfort and launching their innovative client app which takes the pain out of client ID verification, supporting remote working practices, and helps to minimise the areas of financial fraud in a property transaction. We had excellent collaboration between the teams when it came to designing how we could integrate their product into our own tm platforms. Not only did they have a great API which allowed us to implement a seamless client journey between the two service offerings, but they were receptive to enhancements and we have several more in the pipeline.”
For more information, you can register for a LIVE demo of Thirdfort at 1pm (GMT) on Tuesday 20th October 2020, or request more information here. You can also get in touch with your tm Account Manager or take a look at the Thirdfort website.
About Thirdfort
o Thirdfort was founded by schoolfriends Olly Thornton-Berry and Jack Bidgood after a friend was defrauded out of £25,000 whilst buying a flat in London. With a strong desire to make home buying easier and rebuild trust between lawyers and clients, Thirdfort won a place on Mishcon de Reya’s prestigious MDR LAB programme. They worked closely with MDR’s top lawyers and advisors to understand the legal and conveyancing processes, identify the issues and build out Thirdfort’s proposition.
o Lawyers initiate a check and monitor progress via a web app. Users carry out their onboarding checks via a mobile app.
o ID check: the user takes a photo of their identity document, a selfie and a short video. ID scanning and facial recognition technology authenticates the ID document and matches the person in the selfie/video to that document.
o Source of funds: for transactions involving large sums of money, lawyers must investigate where that money comes from to combat money laundering. This usually involves collecting bank statements and the client filling out a paper questionnaire. Thirdfort uses Open Banking technology to let the user securely connect to their online banking and retrieve digital bank statements. Thirdfort has also built a questionnaire into the app for the user to complete.
o Thirdfort is the only company in the legal space to combine an ID AND source of funds product to offer complete client onboarding.
o Alex Chesterman voted Thirdfort his startup of the year in the Times in Dec-19
