Our top priority is to make life easier for SMEs: Escrowpay MD

In partnership with numerous leading banks, Escrowpay, a pioneer in digital escrow solutions, provides smarter, quicker, and safer transactions. Escrowpay provides business-oriented solutions for a range of use cases that are unrestricted by industry or class. Ashwin Chawwla, Founder & Managing Director, Escrowpay in an interview with Bizz Buzz, says, “Our top priority in 2023 is firstly, to keep innovating with newer solutions for making life easier for an SME. Secondly, making it easily available through a dashboard login access and also via APIs. Thirdly, making our technology more affordable to the needs of even smaller SMEs”

Give us an overview of Escrowpay?

In partnership with numerous leading banks, Escrowpay, a pioneer in digital escrow solutions, provides smarter, quicker, and safer transactions. As an integrated stack, it not only encourages efficient payment and collection but also gives transactions a critical level of confidence and transparency.

Escrowpay provides business-oriented solutions for a range of use cases that are unrestricted by industry or class. Additionally, it facilitates the speedy creation of digital escrow accounts. Whether they be high value transactions, once in a lifetime events, milestone-based transactions, long-dated sales, or even recurring regular transactions and priority rapid collections, the platform enables all types and sizes of transactions. Restful APIs and white- labelled dashboard options support these transactions.

What was the insight behind the launch of Escrowpay? How has the company grown since its launch?

Prior to founding Escrowpay, I was a wealth manager and was executing the largest-ever land sale in Mumbai, worth $500 million, where escrow was used to bridge the trust gap between the parties. That was when I realised why only large, publicly traded companies can utilise this product and how we can cut the cost or democratise it to make it available to 6.50 crore SMEs and emerging businesses in India.

65 million SMEs struggle to get paid on time. As per reports, total overdue payments amount to Rs 10,00,000 crore (ten lakh crore). Due to India's low rating for contract enforceability, a lawsuit is quite unlikely as it involves delay and extra cost to recover. You lose the client as soon as you file for litigation or even send a legal notice. Escrow banking and transferring contingent funds across payment rails is old, fully branch-driven, and manual with banks, thus there was an urgent need to create a digital, dependable, trust enabling solution for SMEs.

Tell us about Escrowpay’s suite of offerings. How do you create value for end users?

We all use a payment gateway on a daily basis for making purchases.

We have developed a trust enabling escrow payment gateway for SMEs which our clients can build 'digital trust’ via their websites or mobile apps. Whether the transactions are high-value, once-in-a-lifetime purchases, milestone-based, distant sales, or even recurring ones, the experience remains exceptional.

Our Product Suite covers: Payment gateway services; digital escrow banking solution; trusteeship services; identity checks; digital signing capabilities; digital ledgers; eNach for recurring payments; POS business etc.

What is the USP of Escrowpay which is different from other industries?

While competitors are having trouble attracting new customers, Escrowpay is rapidly growing on an organic basis. While the technology of our rivals is still in its infancy and a work in progress (WIP), ours was developed internally and is currently used by top companies. We have developed over 20 solutions that help hundreds of SMEs and more than 10 sectors. Having said that, competition is always welcome since it broadens the category and playing field in which we compete.

What would be the top priorities for 2023?

Our top priority firstly, is to keep innovating with newer solutions for making life easier for an SME. Secondly, making it easily available through a dashboard login access and also via APIs. Thirdly, making our technology more affordable to the needs of even smaller SMEs.

How has the year 2022 been for the company?

WE are super excited to share that 2022 was the best year in our growth journey. We onboarded new investors, launched our new tech nerve centre doling out APIs at record speed, serving diverse businesses from emerging SMEs to soonicorns, unicorns startups and listed companies on the BSE & NSE. It is still day zero at Escrowpay.