Tazapay in Association with Standard Chartered Offers Digital Escrow on Proxtera Network

Singapore’s latest financial partnership to enable smooth cross-border trade was between Proxtera, Tazapay and Standard Chartered to support the Business sans Borders initiative. A transaction of many firsts – it was Standard Chartered’s first step to enter the Escrow as a Service (EaaS) offering and Tazapay’s first banking partnership. With stalwarts of the financial industry such as Standard Chartered partnering with Tazapay to support Proxtera’s vision, the SMEs will see a revolutionized, digitized & secure system for cross-border trade.

First, let us understand how escrow works? Basic questions that cross one’s mind about escrow payments – How much is the escrow fee? What is the meaning of escrow payment? How does it benefit the parties involved, and so on? 

Tazapay’s escrow services offer security to both the buyer and the seller by acting as the protector of funds. An Escrow payment service is a tripartite agreement between the buyer, seller, and the third party that is mutually chosen. This third party holds the funds and disburses them only once the obligation of the agreement has been fulfilled by both parties involved. Evidence of delivery of goods or a receipt of the services and goods rendered acts as proof that the obligation has been fulfilled, and then funds are transferred. Tazapay offers a 1.8% processing fee to carry out the transaction, which is capped at a reasonable amount, regardless of the transaction value. 

A little while back, Proxtera Protect powered by Tazapay was launched to enable seamless cross-border trade and payment transfers. While Proxtera is responsible for bringing together buyers and sellers on its single marketplace platform, Tazapay ensures secure payments and digital background checks, thereby providing an enterprise with a holistic offering and bringing down the dependency on multiple service providers. Proxtera is a marketplace that connects parties based on their requirements and services offered. However, it was unable to offer financial transaction security which is a critical requirement in cross-border transfers. Tazapay capitalized on this gap through its secure Escrow service offering. Standard Chartered has further strengthened this unison in its endeavour to offer Escrow-as-a-Service & bring Singapore’s vision of frictionless cross-border trade to life, especially for SMEs. 

Standard Chartered’s role will involve the facilitation of setting up bank accounts that Tazapay requires to receive and hold funds in any location and enabling the transfer of funds to the seller once the escrow conditions have been fulfilled as validated by Tazapay. 

Standard Chartered’s take on this collaboration was the democratization of EaaS, building commercial trust amongst partners doing business on the Proxtera network. It will strengthen their aim of sustainable development for Small and Medium Enterprises as Digital escrow will be more accepted and trusted to settle transactions globally. SMEs drive economic growth and are the backbone of any economy. With a little hand-holding, they can maximize their true potential and become forces to reckon with. 

Since its inception, Tazapay has been committed to making international trade and cross-border payments easy for SMEs. This partnership has moved them one step closer towards this goal. The partnership will also further enhance the security and ease of holding and transferring funds, regardless of the location. 

Proxtera can capitalize on the network of Standard Chartered bank to broaden its partner network and facilitate seamless cross-border trade over a larger area. 

This unison has multiple benefits – from providing a wider network of trading partners, to the digitization of B2B payments, enhanced business growth, secure and safe financial transactions and no location restrictions. We see this as an all-encompassing opportunity for anyone interested in cross border trade.