Fidelity Reports Delivery of 800,000 Digital Opening Packages to Consumers
September 23, 2020
Fidelity National Financial reported that hundreds of thousands of consumers have used its secure, online portal for real estate transactions since being launched in February.
In a release, Fidelity said it has delivered over 800,000 startSafe digital opening packages to consumers as part of its initiative to bring to market a new trusted and transparent experience for agents, buyers and sellers. Additionally, Fidelity reported that over 70 percent of all packages were opened and 85 percent of consumers that started working with the startSafe product completed the process.
Randy Quirk, Fidelty’s CEO, called the quick adoption “a remarkable achievement.”
"This completion rate shows that consumers are ready to adopt a new real estate experience,” Quirk said. “By enabling all our offices across all brands with startSafe, we are moving to further expand to a digitally enabled title company."
Quirk also said startSafe is expanding to allow consumers to make earnest money deposits using mobile devices. The feature allows consumers to scan checks with their smartphones. The Mobile Deposit capabilities are currently in production in a few markets and will be available in all markets nationwide by the end of October, according to Quirk.
Krista Christensen, Fidelity’s vice president of cyber and wire strategies, said the new features make the process of starting a real estate transaction even more convenient and seamless in our new low-contact environment.
"We are making the homebuying experience not only safer and more transparent for consumers, but more convenient," Christensen said. “By expanding FNF's WireSafe initiative to include the startSafe digital opening package, as well as adding features like mobile deposit of earnest money, our title companies are helping consumers make the important transition away from email as the real estate transaction hub to a safer, more user-friendly online portal experience.”
The use of startSafe digital opening packages, mobile deposit capabilities, as well as future comprehensive capabilities for both consumers and agents will continue to be rolled out to all direct operations of Chicago Title, Fidelity National Title, Lawyers Title, Ticor Title, Alamo Title, as well as the other direct title brands under the FNF family of companies throughout the remainder of 2020.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.