UK based Shieldpay has expanded into the US by providing services to car classified site, AutoClassics.com. The Fintech scale up enables sites to become fully transactional marketplaces and offers an instant digital escrow payment solution. Shieldpay can also accelerate multi-million-pound M&A deals and real estate transactions, having recently powered the UK’s first fully digital real estate transaction.
Shieldpay’s payment solution is designed to mitigate the risk of fraud by verifying the identity of both parties, holding funds securely and then releasing funds only when both sides agree they are ready with the transaction. Shieldpay says their payment solution is “set to transform classified sites to fully transactional marketplaces, bringing transparency and efficiency to the payment while also reducing the risk of fraud.”
Tom Clementson, Director of Consumer & SMB of Shieldpay, says that while PayPal is great for low value transactions, they secure larger payments between parties that have been verified by their platform.
“Taking Shieldpay to the US was the next logical step. The size and scale of online marketplaces, globally, is over USD $1 trillion – and that figure even excludes classifieds sites, which don’t yet accept payments,” said Clementson. “This opportunity is huge, yet classifieds and marketplaces are under-served by secure solutions for larger payments. Classified sites have come under increasing pressure from disruptors and we believe our technology will allow them to fight back and transform their business models – taking them from traditional listing sites to transactional marketplaces and building an instant new revenue stream.”
In brief, consumers will no longer have to transact with fear when purchasing from an unknown party they have met online. Shieldpay also offers “Driveway Checkout” where users may negotiate the price of the car on the driveway and simply authorise the payment in-app to complete the sale.
Shieldpay is authorised in 32 countries including the UK and US. In the US, Shieldpay is a service provider to Community Federal Savings Bank who sponsors the Shieldpay Program and Shieldpay Service.