Opt in or out of PEXA

Until it becomes a mandate, is it up to the seller and buyer to decide if they want use PEXA? What if one of the parties insists to or not to use PEXA?

From the news, it seems sellers wear higher risk?

I remember banks charge $100+ to attend settlement, does that mean PEXA avoids those charges?

 

Lower risk i think.

If the seller wants to use PEXA then the buyer will have to use it, or talk them out of using it.
Also you need to consider the lawyers involve may only want to do/not do pexa.

You will have to talk to your bank about settlement charges they hit you with.

 

Ah I see, the seller dictates how to settle. Thanks Terry.

 

The media blamed PEXA for something that went wrong outside of PEXA, which incidentally could have happened with any settlement. I will use PEXA next time I get the chance

 

In WA I think you will find using PEXA more expensive, definitely as far as settlement agents costs.

Not really. Yes not directly PEXA's fault however it highlighted a couple of weaknesses in PEXA's system:
1 - Too easy to get access by clicking forget password! This is a big weakness, you don't see this flaw with internet banking facilities. Why have the other security measures if they can be bypassed with this flaw.
2 - No ability to "lock" in settlement details in system or warnings/messages that things like bank account details have changed. For example with NAB it pops up with a warning if a payment has been modified before it was approved.


I would opt out of PEXA for sure.

 

I think they have tightened up security since the bad publicity a few weeks ago.

 

Was PEXA accessed fraudulently or was it the solicitors email system? My understanding is it was the email system outside PEXA that was compromised. I could be completely wrong.

 

I think it was the email system outside, but this enabled them to change passwords of PEXA and to take control and change bank accounts etc

 

Sounds like exactly what happened

"According to PEXA, the hacker was able to gain access to the conveyancer’s email account and then intercepted a password reset email from PEXA. Through that email, the unknown party was able to fraudulently change the destination account to their own, which wasn’t identified by either party when the settlement was electronically signed.

Both PEXA and the conveyancer in question have been reluctant to accept blame for the incident. PEXA has been widely criticised for its lax security protocols and for not utilising two-factor authentication with its emails and password reset triggers."
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PEXA breach harms digital trust

My last purchase had large amounts of sums moved electronically which could have been compromised if a hacker accessed my conveyancers email account.

I would say the conveyancers have to tighten up their email security and PEXA should be utilising two-factor authentication.

 

Yeah, multiple factor, if not for all transactions, definitely for high risk ones such as updating account numbers or adding new users.

 

We’ve been using PEXA for settlements for the last three months. Very happy, no issues.