Shieldpay expands its international footprint into the US, converting classifieds sites into transactional marketplaces for the first time

UK fintech scale-up Shieldpay has launched in the United States (US) with car classified site, AutoClassics.com
Shieldpay’s instant digital escrow payment solution allows car classified sites to become fully transactional marketplaces for the first time, across the UK, EU and US
Shieldpay has increased its global footprint by launching in the US by partnering with the car classified site, AutoClassics.com. Shieldpay enabled the site to become fully transactional to its customers for the first time across the UK, EU and US.

Shieldpay’s transparent payment solution mitigates the risk of fraud by verifying the identity of both parties, holding funds securely and only releasing funds when both sides agree they are happy with the transaction. The 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.

AutoClassics.com has integrated the Shieldpay API to power payments, listings, bids and offers for its dealers and consumers. Classifieds and marketplaces can leverage Shieldpay’s API to create their own user experience or make use of Shieldpay’s ‘ready to use’ user interface.

Consumers will no longer have to carry large sums of cash when meeting a stranger or wire money blindly when buying a car from someone they’ve met online. Consumers will also benefit from innovative features like Shieldpay’s Driveway Checkout™ where they can negotiate the price of the car on the driveway and simply authorise the payment in-app to complete the sale.

Shieldpay’s Director of Consumer & SMB, Tom Clementson, says that the technology will allow classified sites to ‘fight back’ against disruptors like Facebook Marketplace and start competing for more of the USD$1 trillion marketplaces globally. Clementson also believes that Shieldpay’s trusted payments network will fill the void in the payments industry for life’s big purchases, or when dealing with someone you don’t know.

Tom Clementson, Director of Consumer & SMB of Shieldpay, comments: “While PayPal are great for low value, every day spend, we secure larger payments between users that have been verified by Shieldpay, which addresses a huge gap in the market.

“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. 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.”

Geoff Love, CEO of AutoClassics, comments: “We’re proud to partner with Shieldpay as an innovative payments solution that has allowed us to become transactional for the first time. Shieldpay gives our users total confidence that they can buy and sell securely on AutoClassics.com. Our users will also benefit from Shieldpay’s verified user badge that signals to the buyer or seller that the other user is part of the trusted payments network.”

As well as protecting life’s big purchases like buying or selling a car, Shieldpay’s instant digital escrow facility can accelerate multi-million-pound M&A deals and real estate transactions, having recently powered the UK’s first fully digital real estate transaction.