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Escrow.com drops minimum fee to $10

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Small transactions are now cheaper at Escrow.com.

Escrow.com is dropping its minimum fee on transactions to $10.

This will lower the price customers pay for the standard service for any transaction under $775. It will lower the price for transactions using a credit card under $400.

Escrow.com GM told Domain Name Wire that this move was made to compete with PayPal. “This will give people escrow protection without the need to pay $25 on a $300 domain,” he said. “$10 makes it a no-brainer.”

Payoneer, a competing escrow service, also has a $10 minimum.

Want to use Escrow.com? Prepare to be verified.

by — Services 96 Comments

New verification process is designed to meet regulations.

Escrow.com has started a new verification process for its customers, both buyers and sellers.

In order to send or receive payments to a personal account, users will have to provide a copy of a government-issued ID (such as a drivers license) and proof of personal address (such as a utility bill).

Businesses will need to provide a copy of a representative’s government issued ID, proof of address of that representative, and company registration documents.

This will no doubt add friction to the process of buying and selling domain names, particularly if the other party is not a frequent domain trader.

But the verification is necessary for Escrow.com to not run afoul of government regulations. Escrow.com GM Jackson Elsegood wrote on NamePros:

To combat the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, US Federal law requires all financial institutions (including escrow companies) to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. This requirement is present in many pieces of legislation, but the strongest requirement comes from FinCEN and the US PATRIOT Act, section 326. You can find more information about the US PATRIOT Act and it’s requirements on the US FinCEN site.

Payoneer jumps into domain name escrow business

by — Services 35 Comments

Global payments company begins catering to the domain name industry.

payoneer-escrowGlobal payments company Payoneer is getting into the domain name escrow business with the help of former Escrow.com president Brandon Abbey.

Payoneer is a large payments company that handles payment distributions for companies like UpWork and Airbnb. It sends payments in 150 currencies to people in 200 countries.

The company acquired escrow company Armor Payments earlier this year to expand into online escrow and has now renamed it Payoneer Escrow.

Scott Reynolds co-founded Armor Payments in 2013. Armor Payments had a technology-centric approach to escrow, offering an API to third-party marketplaces. About half of its business originates through the API.

Reynolds told Domain Name Wire that Armor hasn’t previously focused on domain name escrow because “there was a well-run, well-established incumbent”. He’s referring to Escrow.com.

The desire to cater to domain name buyers and sellers grew as a number of existing Payoneer users requested it. Reynolds also says people were starting to look for an alternative to Escrow.com.

It helped that long-time Escrow.com President Brandon Abbey had left Escrow.com, the leading domain name escrow company. Payoneer brought him on to lead its domain name escrow effort.

“Very few people know this segment like Brandon does,” said Reynolds.

“Now there’s a licensed, legitimate alternative to what’s previously been out there,” Abbey told Domain Name Wire.

“The barrier to entry is extremely steep if you’re going to do it right and get the [escrow] licenses,” he said.

Abbey said that a number of things kept him up at night while running Escrow.com: regulation, compliance, know-your-customer.

“All that stuff is lock, stock and barrel the way these guys have set it up,” Abbey said.

Payoneer Escrow is launching with broker tools to allow domain name brokers to participate in the escrow and receive their commissions.

For now, only brokers and sellers can initiate transactions. The company is building buyer-initiated capability and plans to add credit card payments this fall. It is also working with domain name marketplaces to integrate its escrow services via API.

Expect Payoneer Escrow to compete on price. A price comparison provided by the company shows that it plans to undercut the competition, especially with sub-$10,000 transactions, which make up the majority of the market.

So far, entrants to the domain escrow business have been smaller players. Payoneer is a large company with 24×7 support and over 700 employees, so this will be interesting to watch.

Jackson Elsegood on Escrow.com – DNW Podcast #98

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Escrow.com GM Jackson Elsegood provides data on the domain name market and explains how the company is improving customer service response times.

This week: Escrow.com GM Jackson Elsegood shares data about how the domain name market is shaping up in 2016 (it’s a mixed bag), and also explains what the company is doing to improve customer service. Also: NamesCon acquired, Namecheap’s revenue, .com prices and some questionable domain-name related trademarks.

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Andee Hill joins Donuts as liaison to domain name investors

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Hill will work with domain name investors.

Donuts has hired Andee Hill as Director of Business Development, the company announced today. She will handle relationships with domain name investors and report directly to co-founder and EVP for Business Development Dan Schindler.

Hill most recently was founder of EscrowHill, an escrow service for domain names. Prior to that, she worked for Escrow.com.

EscrowHill recently closed up shop by selling its escrow application to the law firm Greenberg & Lieberman LLC. EscrowHill was one of many new entrants in the online escrow space in the past couple years, challenging Escrow.com. Escrow.com acquired upstart Agreed.com, and now EscrowHill has effectively shut down. Escrow.com itself was recently acquired.