After paymints.io deal, First American is evaluating additional third-party integrations to simplify transactions from point of sale to handing over the keys.
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First American Title is evaluating third-party integrations that can allow it to proceed expanding the capabilities of its recent collaborative platform for title agents, PRISM, beyond title insurance.
Launched in August, the PRISM platform lets lenders and real estate agents get quotes for title insurance and settlement fees or order title without calling their title agents. The platform also gives real estate agents access to co-branded or white-labeled seller net sheets, buyer estimates, refinance quotes, marketing materials and property reports.
That PRISM could play a fair broader role in facilitating home sales became evident in September, when paymints.io announced its integration into the PRISM platform. Integration with paymints.io eliminates the necessity for paper checks by allowing title and real estate agents to request and receive electronic disbursement of earnest money and cash-to-close funds inside the platform.
PRISM can be integrated with DataTree, a database of property and homeowner information; and Agent Print Pro, which provides customizable marketing materials.
Now First American says it’s taking a look at additional third-party integrations in addition to providing more of its own services and products through PRISM.
Trey Dirks
“We’re currently evaluating several integrations that can simplify the actual estate transaction from the purpose of sale all of the method to the actual signing and handing over the keys,” said Trey Dirks, vp of product and knowledge technology at First American Title, in a blog post Thursday.
Next yr Dirks said there are plans to integrate First American’s digital closing options, including eSign and distant online notarization into PRISM, in addition to geo farming and other marketing tools.
Dirks said that as a front-end portal for much of First American’s internal title and escrow technologies, the PRISM platform provides access to the corporate’s public records data, accelerating closings for lenders, real estate agents, buyers and sellers.
“Slightly than having multiple subscriptions and conducting extensive public records research, the PRISM platform pulls all the pieces together right into a single portal,” Dirks said. “Quick and quick access to property data helps real estate professionals and their customers higher understand neighborhoods, schools, and anything that may impact closing upfront.”
Along with being the nation’s second-largest title insurer, First American Title’s parent company, First American Financial, has been investing heavily in next-generation proptech corporations.
Since 2019, First American has made direct investments in 16 venture-funded proptech corporations, while also scaling up its digital title and settlement services subsidiary Endpoint, which uses artificial intelligence to streamline document submissions and expedite processes.
Dennis Gilmore
“As real estate transactions turn out to be increasingly digital, we’re leveraging our unique data assets and technology to reinforce the client experience and to make the settlement process more efficient for all parties,” First American CEO Dennis Gilmore has said of the initiative.
Rivals Fidelity National Financial and Stewart Information Services are also investing heavily in end-to-end tools that can help them construct ties with real estate agents and lenders.
Fidelity’s real estate technology corporations include SoftPro, a provider of closing, title, and escrow software solutions; NextAce, a pioneer in automating title search and examination; ServiceLink Auction, a full-service auction platform for brief sales and foreclosed homes; CINC (Commissions Inc.) a provider of real estate marketing and CRM software for real estate agents and brokers; Real Geeks, a lead generation and management solution for real estate agents; and SkySlope, a digital transaction management platform for real estate brokerages.
Stewart has acquired a stable of corporations that provide ancillary services, including appraisal management services, search and valuation, and online notarization and shutting solutions. Last yr, Stewart closed a $192 million deal to amass data and analytics provider Informative Research and a $175 million acquisition of property data aggregator PropStream.
Other past Stewart acquisitions include United States Appraisals, Pro-Teck Services Ltd., NotaryCam, Signature Closers, and Cloudvirga, a digital mortgage origination platform.
While title insurers are investing in technology, some tech corporations are also hoping to present title insurers a run for his or her money. SingleSource Property Solutions and Voxtur launched an alternative choice to title insurance in August, Attorney Conclusion of Title, that’s designed with recent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines in mind.
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) — which surpassed Rocket Mortgage in the course of the third quarter to turn out to be the nation’s largest lender — can be hiring and training attorneys to generate attorney opinion letters in-house to avoid wasting consumers the fee of obtaining lender’s title insurance.
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