PEXA accelerates UK expansion, signing ThoughtWorks as global platform partner

PEXA, operator of the world’s first digital property exchange platform, has partnered with global software consultancy ThoughtWorks to help drive its international expansion plans, starting with bringing digital conveyancing to the UK remortgage market in 2022, with plans to subsequently extend to the wider sale and purchase market.

Through its PEXA International business, PEXA is actively pursuing opportunities to introduce its experience and know-how to new markets, focusing on those with Torrens title systems, such as England, Wales, New Zealand and Canada, which still largely rely on paper-based property settlement systems or are making early progress towards digitisation.

In Australia, PEXA has established a highly integrated and secure property settlement platform that has successfully completed more than 7.8 million transactions and now handles more than 80% of all property transfer settlements in Australia.

The platform is used by Australian state land title offices, 9300 practitioner firms, such as conveyancers and lawyers, and 150 financial institutions.

Working with ThoughtWorks will allow PEXA to build out its platform according to the requirements of each market.

It will also mean PEXA will be able to offer greater value to potential partners in new markets, with the opportunity for customers to work directly with ThoughtWorks to develop bespoke extensions and elements such as APIs, tighter integration or even branded and customised user experiences.

PEXA Chief Executive Officer Glenn King said PEXA sees enormous potential to work with jurisdictions making the transition to digital property settlements.

“Australia is the only country in the world to have a fully digitised property settlement process, and we’re firmly focused on leveraging the expertise and learnings our people have amassed over our 10-year journey in order to build a platform for growth into other key markets – starting with the UK,” King said.

“We have a strong history of building collaborative partnerships with leading technology providers, governments, lenders and the conveyancing sector, and together we are committed to delivering positive outcomes for the UK community and the broader economy.”

PEXA continues to grow the PEXA International team, led by UK Chief Executive James Bawa, who has more than 30 years of experience in the British financial services sector. Bawa said PEXA’s platform could help the British Government meet its objective of making the homebuying process more efficient and less costly for all stakeholders, particularly homebuyers and sellers.

“Collaborating with ThoughtWorks as our build partner allows us to design and build a high performing solution that will deliver homebuyers and sellers in the UK with a faster, transparent and less stressful experience,” Bawa said.

“There is a big appetite for change across the UK’s major banks and lenders, and an acknowledgement that technology will support the local conveyancing sector in setting a new standard.”

Kristan Vingrys, Managing Director for ThoughtWorks ANZ, said “PEXA has been recognised and awarded for its innovation and outstanding industrywide impact, and it goes without saying that we are thrilled to become the exclusive build partner to help this great Australian pioneer’s international expansion.”

About ThoughtWorks

ThoughtWorks is a software consultancy and community of passionate purposeled individuals, 8,000+ people strong across 48 offices in 17 countries. Over our 25+ year history, we have helped our clients solve complex business problems where technology is the differentiator. When the only constant is change, we prepare you for the unpredictable.