AML platform secures investment from three major estate agencies

Anti-money laundering (AML) platform Thirdfort has secured funding from three high profile estate agents.

Knight Frank, Chestertons and Savills’ proptech subsidiary Grosvenor Hill Ventures have all taken equity investment in the brand.

All three agents are also using Thirdfort’s AML platform and will support product development. 

Olly Thornton-Berry, managing director at Thirdfort, said: “All estate agents are having to navigate the rapidly escalating AML regulations, with HMRC requesting more than just a simple politically exposed person screen, yet legacy AML solutions do not cater to the new world of risk. 

“We saw a huge opportunity to build the first platform that actually protected against money laundering, leveraging Open Banking and 12 third party KYC suppliers, packaged into a mobile app that turns seamless compliance into a competitive advantage.”  

The agency businesses will initially adopt Thirdfort’s mobile-first offering across their residential sales teams. 

Having completed a six-month pilot in April, Knight Frank has already rolled Thirdfort out across all UK branches. Chestertons is implementing Thirdfort’s platform across its UK network, while Savills will embark on a pilot following this investment before a planned rollout.  
 

Philip Gardner, group head of strategy risk and operations at Knight Frank, said: “We are delighted to make this investment into what we believe is the leading AML platform. We look forward to working with the other investors and leadership at Thirdfort to develop the platform and explore further use across the Knight Frank group.”    

Egita Cepurnaite, head of AML at Chestertons, added“Having recently completed a pilot of Thirdfort’s platform we believe it could offer our clients and staff a more streamlined and secure approach to KYC, AML and SoF checks. 

“By using open banking, cryptographic and biometric verification, and real-time ongoing PEPs and sanctions monitoring, the platform will help automate compliance requirements while reducing the risk of fraud and money laundering.”  

Derry Lynch, head of residential compliance at Savills said the brand was looking forward to working with Thirdfort, adding: “Compliance procedures are increasingly complex and time-consuming, so a new platform that accelerates some of the processes involved in any property transaction is welcome and will help us improve the client experience.”