Escrow as a Service (EaaS)

Escrow as a service is a cloud-based platform that allows businesses to use escrow functionality without having to build and maintain their own escrow infrastructure. This enables banks and businesses to focus on their core operations while the escrow service handles all the technical and operational aspects of managing and distributing funds between parties.

What Is Escrow as a Service?

Enterprise-grade escrow capabilities through APIs and cloud platforms - no infrastructure required.

Think of it like the difference between building your own data center versus using AWS. Building escrow infrastructure in-house means:

• Partnering with banks and establishing custody accounts
• Building payment processing integrations
• Developing ledger and accounting systems
• Creating compliance monitoring and reporting
• Maintaining security and audit capabilities
• Hiring specialized staff to manage it all

Escrow as a service provides all of this as a ready-to-use platform - you integrate via API, and the service handles everything behind the scenes.

Who Uses Escrow as a Service?

Businesses that need escrow functionality but don't want to become escrow companies:

Vertical SaaS Platforms: Companies building software for specific industries that need embedded escrow.

A construction management SaaS platform serves general contractors and helps them manage projects, subcontractors, and payments. Rather than building escrow infrastructure themselves, they integrate an escrow as a service API. Now their customers can hold project funds in escrow and release milestone payments to subcontractors directly within the platform. The SaaS company focuses on building great construction management software while the EaaS provider handles banking relationships, compliance, and fund custody.

Banks & Credit Unions: Financial institutions wanting to offer escrow services without building the technology themselves.

A regional bank wants to offer escrow services for their commercial clients involved in business acquisitions. They partner with an escrow as a service provider - the bank's name is on the service, they maintain the customer relationships, but the EaaS platform provides the technology, workflows, compliance monitoring, and operational capabilities. The bank generates fee revenue and strengthens client relationships without building complex infrastructure.

The Technical Integration: White-Label Experience

The end customer experiences everything as your brand, not the EaaS provider.

A real estate technology platform offers "PropertyDeal Escrow" to their users. Behind the scenes, they're using Hudson's escrow as a service - but customers see the PropertyDeal logo, use PropertyDeal-branded portals, and receive emails from PropertyDeal. The EaaS provider is completely invisible, handling all the complex operations while PropertyDeal maintains their brand relationship.

Key Benefits

Why businesses choose escrow as a service over building in-house:

Faster Time to Market

• Launch escrow functionality in weeks - avoid 12-18 month build cycles
• Skip regulatory approval processes & start generating revenue immediately

Lower Capital Requirements

• Avoid hiring specialized escrow operations team
• Pay-as-you-grow pricing instead of upfront investment

Regulatory Simplicity

• EaaS provider maintains all necessary licenses
• Reduced legal and compliance overhead

Operational Excellence and Focus on Core Business

• Benefit from economies of scale in operations
• Company resources directed at competitive differentiation, not escrow

Pricing Models

How escrow as a service providers typically charge:

Transaction-Based Pricing

• Percentage fee per transaction (typically 1-3%)
• Often split between platform and end-user
• Volume discounts for high-transaction businesses

Platform/SaaS Pricing

• Monthly or annual platform fee
• Plus per-transaction fees
• Tiered based on transaction volume