NAR Invests in New AI Safety Tool
The National Association of REALTORS®’ venture capital investment arm is lending financial support for an identity authentication startup that leverages artificial intelligence.
NAR’s Second Century Ventures announced this week that it would become a strategic investor in Trust Stamp, a startup founded in 2015 by Gareth Genner and Andrew Gowasack. It’s one of the eight companies that entered the REach program earlier this year.
Trust Stamp uses patented artificial intelligence software to analyze hundreds of public records and social data to provide identification verification for real estate professionals who are meeting new clients or unknown individuals. The company combines driver’s license analysis and “proof-of-liveness” photographic identification with data from more than 200 social media sites and public records. The public records scanned include criminal and sex offender databases. The program creates a trustworthiness score based on the data it finds.
Trust Stamp is used in multiple industries, including banks, but it now offers real estate-specific websites and mobile apps that are available only to NAR members (requires your NRDS number to access). You can use the sites to enter an individual’s email address or cell phone number and then invite them to make a Trust Stamp. An individual can then upload a photo of his or her driver’s license, a selfie, and links to one or more social accounts. When Trust Stamp is complete with its analysis, agents are instantly notified.
“Second Century Ventures aims to develop and deliver technologies to innovate the real estate industry and help realty professionals to best serve buyers, sellers, and clients,” NAR President Bill Brown said in a statement. “Investing in a fast, convenient and affordable tool like Trust Stamp to establish the identity and trustworthiness of a stranger will better help REALTORS® stay safe and protect clients and their home or property.”
Source: National Association of REALTOR®