Trust and security during

marketplace exchanges

Arcadier sat down with Tripartie’s Founder and CEO Victorien De Doncker for an exclusive interview to discuss and hear his views about trust and security during marketplace exchanges, one of the most crucial components of sustainable marketplace business. Now an Arcadier Affiliate Partner, both Tripartie and Arcadier aim to work together to help online marketplaces expand securely and with extra peace of mind.

What inspired you to create Tripartie?

The starting point is simple: providing services at a distance is risky. Indeed, self-employed workers face many delays and unpaid invoices while clients do not necessarily have confidence in the service provider, especially at the beginning of the relationship. Almost one out of three transactions between individuals leads to a dispute: bank check scams, theft, and hidden defects are unfortunately too frequent. We wanted to create an easy-to-use tool to secure everyday transactions. This is how the adventure of Tripartie began!

                                         The Tripartie team. Photo credit: Tripartie.

How different is the landscape of disputes resolution now than it was before?

Apart from a couple of public initiatives, the dispute resolution sphere did not evolve that much during the last 15 years. Indeed, there are plenty of offers in the B2B arbitration landscape (i.e. to settle disputes of a minimum of $10,000) but nothing new in the SMEs and C2C transactions. We believe that digitalization must benefit the resolution of everyday disputes, this is why we designed a quick and fair process dedicated to sales of goods and services between individuals and SMEs.

What are the biggest issues regarding trust and security currently?

Let’s take the case of C2C transactions: they are still made directly in the street due to a lack of trust and security online. Scams, non-delivered or non-compliant items, poor quality of deliverables, late payments or unpaid invoices are by far too frequent. Fortunately, marketplaces are more and more secure and offer various protections to their users. As an example, they manage topics – together with their payment provider – relating to cybercrime risks (such as dual authentication or identity proof). On its side, Tripartie specializes in securing the entire transaction with a focus on the quality of the deliverable, whether it is a good or service.

Do you see an increase in the demand for escrow and arbitration services?

Such services are unknown to the general public although they are the ultimate protection for those types of transactions. However, escrow payment is now commonly used by most of the modern marketplaces and the payment market is growing fast: +11% which topped $1.9 trillion in global revenue, the largest annual increase measured in the past five years, according to McKinsey.

Is it more complex when it comes to cross-border disputes? 

Tripartie is an international trusted third party which means that its users can secure transnational deals. However, the playing rules are the same for everyone! If a dispute arises, a Tripartie arbitrator will settle it applying the rules agreed in advance.