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A new player is joining the electronic property settlement market, going head-to-head with PEXA.
The new service, Sympli Australia Pty Ltd (Sympli) comes out of a partnership between ASX Limited and Australian Technology Innovators Pty Limited (ATI). ATI is the parent company of InfoTrack, a provider of eConveyancing technology and services.
Sympli has applied to become an Electronic Lodgment Network Operator (ELNO) with the Australian Registrars' National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC).
The two groups came together after seeing an opportunity to deliver a market-leading electronic property settlement service by combining their experience and expertise, with ASX being a provider of secure, electronic financial market settlements and InfoTrack with property settlement technology and processes.
Sympli will offer lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions a streamlined and comprehensive technology solution to integrate with clients’ existing practices and systems. It is hoped the service will improve efficiencies and support Australia’s transition to full electronic conveyancing and settlement.
The Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) is already aiming for a completely paperless mortgage process. In April it announced it had now processed one million property transactions. Ninety-eight percent of Australia’s mortgage lending market and over half of all legal and conveyancing firms nationwide are already on the PEXA platform.
Subject to regulatory approvals, Sympli expects to begin operations towards the end of 2018.
ASX expects to invest approximately $30million in the new venture over this and the next two financial years.
This will comprise approximately $7million in 2018, with further investments in 2019 and 2020. ASX estimates that Sympli will break-even in the 2021 financial year.
Dominic Stevens, ASX managing director and CEO, said, “Entering the electronic property settlement market is a natural evolution for ASX. We already settle approximately $70billion in transactions electronically every day and have been the central settlement venue for the Australian financial market for decades. InfoTrack is the ideal partner as the market leader in legal and property search. It has 18 years’ experience and brings a deep understanding of and connectivity to the property conveyancing industry.
“Sympli is an exciting opportunity. Combining the experience and expertise of both shareholders will enable Sympli to provide a compelling offering, which we believe will allow users to easily realise the efficiencies of electronic property settlements.”
