The ongoing account verification process at Escrow.com generated some arguments about its efficiency, recently.
As an Escrow.com user since 2002, I was initially reluctant about taking that extra step; then, I realized that I’d rather sleep better at night, if I transacted with well-verified buyers.
A current transaction triggered an account verification, and I had to submit some documents to Escrow.com.
These documents were one each, from the following categories:
- Proof of identity
- Proof of address
- Corporate information
Because I transact as a corporate entity, the latter was mandatory. This is what’s needed.
I submitted photos of my state id (front and back) and a utility bill scan. I also provided my corporate formation document for a total of four files, which I uploaded.
The notification email that arrived soon after, informed me that the documents were received, and that I’d expect to hear back in 24 hours.
So how fast were my documents verified?
It took Escrow.com a total of 9 minutes, as the photo shows:
Many domain investors transact with Escrow.com as individuals, in which case the necessary documents to provide are different. With verification done so fast in my case, I can imagine that it takes considerably less time to do so.
I was informed that during the verification process, active transactions are not affected. If, however, the amount involved is large, the monetary exchange will occur after the account in question becomes verified.
In a nutshell: Account verification at Escrow.com is a great extra step to ensure domain investors and their buyers engage in transactions that eliminate any potential for fraud. It should be a painless process as long as you provide the necessary documents, and Escrow.com support is well-trained to address any issues that might arise.
Not a great step for one-off buyers that don’t want to hassle with submitting personal documents.
I’m likely going to just use Epik Escrow going forward.
Similar experience here. Our business account verification took only 3 minutes.
It definitely gives a nice level of comfort to anyone submitting documents when they hear back in a timely manner.
Hopefully first time users get approved quickly as well.
Adam – Most buyers are “one off” cases. I would not want to deal with a buyer who’d refuse to get verified; after all, my own verification ensures that the buyer is secured.
Ian – Nice!
4-5 minutes for my verification.
Verification literally took less than 5 minutes for me to do. It took me more time to get my all-in-one printer to connect to my new computer!
It’s really not to bad.
People want to complain when their domains are stolen but wont take 5 minutes to verify who they are! lol
Now, will the buyers be scared off is another questions….
I find that the requirement is fundamentally intrusive. People would understand if they were opening a bank account, but they just want to buy a domain (a one-off transaction). Do you even need to get verified like this when you buy a car ?
In these days of hacking and identity theft, people are reluctant to submit personal data for very good reasons. I truly doubt Escrow.com’s IT systems are any more secure than the OPM’s.
Of course, Escrow.com, like any company is subject to ever-increasing compliance demands. Terrorism money laundering blah blah.
Blame the government as always.
Time to get your own merchant account.
I don’t think it helps us in any way, it’s just a way for Escrow.com to a. comply with some regulatory requirements and b. vet the payers (understandably they have to minimize the monetary risk on their end).
Soon they will be asking for DNA samples and I am hardly kidding.