API makes it easy for third-parties to integrate escrow services.
Escrow.com has released a new API in beta.
According to the company, the API will make it easy for websites, marketplaces, classifieds sites, shopping carts, and mobile apps to integrate Escrow.com’s services. The company says it’s as easy as integrating payment methods such as Stripe and PayPal.
Escrow.com already has integrations with many marketplaces, but I believe these were custom integrations. Now there’s a centralized API that any service can use.
Details of the beta API, including documenation, are here.
Escrow.com has long been the dominant escrow service for domain name transactions. It handled over $200 million in payments in the first half of this year. Freelancer.com acquired the company for $7.5 million in 2015.
Does the new API eliminate my major complaint about using escrow,com?
After 15 yrs, I avoid using them because of the hoops they make new buyers jump through to complete a transaction. (all of the levels of verification before the transaction can begin.)
Unless the buyer is already verified with Escrow,com, I will not use them. There are too many other choices today. (sedo, escrow,domains, Pay.)
Right from day one, Armor Payments (which became Payoneer Escrow last year) was launched with the intention of providing a simple API for partners, like B2B marketplaces, to integrate. Our approach was to make this integration as easy as possible, while we managed all the complexity of an escrow transaction behind the scenes. And believe me, there is plenty of complexity – from conducting KYC (“know-your-customer”) checks on buyers and sellers, to automatically reconciling and processing payments, to resolving disputes in a fair and transparent way, to obtaining the extensive regulatory approvals required to operate around the world. I might add that we have been doing the KYC verifications since 2005 and we are quite good at it. No hoops here. Please be mindful if you are using an unlicensed service your transactions could be at risk.