Login
iscover
A recent announcement that PropertyMe, one of Australia’s largest trust accounting software platforms, will introduce a ‘trustless’ option for its customers marks a major shift in the property management landscape.
In a newsletter seen by REB from PropertyMe chief customer officer Sarah Dawson, customers were informed that “increasing interest from customers in a ‘trustless’ option" had prompted the move, with “game-changing innovation in payments currently in the final stages of testing”.
For years, the industry has been blighted by trust account abuse, and the PropertyMe announcement follows a spate of trust-accounting issues over recent months, which have rattled the industry and forced regulators to act.
Earlier this month, REB reported that a Victorian real estate agent had her licence revoked after mishandling trust accounts and failing to meet audit obligations.
The former Ray White Romsey operator, Debra Lawry, was permanently banned from practising as an estate agent after misappropriating $193,000 in client trust funds and breaching several legal requirements.
And just weeks earlier, a Perth sales representative was banned from working in real estate after admitting to dishonestly misusing over $270,000 in client trust accounts over a three-year period.
Repeated trust-account breaches prompted Consumer Affairs Victoria to issue a statement in September warning that trust-account misuse would be under heavy scrutiny.
The decision to introduce a ‘trustless’ solution by PropertyMe will see the company enter a market already supported by predominant early-moving software businesses.
In a bid to give agents an alternative to using a trust account and offer a more secure proposition for investors, automated direct payments were pioneered by Managed in 2018.
Since then, other smaller players have followed suit, but this is the first time one of the heavyweight property management platforms has entered the arena.
Over the years, awareness and interest in alternatives to trust account-based transactions have been growing.
In 2024, research from Agile Market Intelligence revealed that up to 10 per cent of property managers operated without a trust account.
Furthermore, 71 per cent of the industry was aware that there is an alternative to a trust account, with one in three respondents saying they would choose an automated payments platform if they were to start their agency today.
While PropertyMe is yet to announce full details, according to the newsletter seen by REB, the move follows growing demand from PropertyMe customers for ‘trustless’ payments. However, they will continue to offer traditional trust accounting solutions.
‘Trustless’ payments have been embraced by leading networks and offices over recent years, facilitating direct payments between tenants and landlords and reducing the risk of trust account abuse.
PropertyMe claims it will deliver greater transparency and faster payout timelines.
Phillip Tarrant, CEO of Managed, welcomed the news that one of the incumbent platforms for property managers had followed Managed in offering a ‘trustless’ proposition to its customers.
“Most of the property management sector still operates with 20th-century payment structures. Trust accounts were established 100 years ago, and while they were fit for purpose in the industrial era, they are no longer the best option in a digital age."
Tarrant said that there is still confusion with most agencies around compliance when it comes to trust account alternatives, and this holds some agencies back when deciding to move to an automated payments platform.
“The key point is, when you move to a true end-to-end automated payments platform like Managed, there is no ‘trust money’ and therefore no need for a trust account. True direct payments go from tenant to landlord, and agents can’t access any transactions or touch a cent of the payments that go through the platform,” he said.
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.