Innovator Network Recaps
June 2025: MLS Innovator Network Recap & Insights
3 days ago
By Arianna Marino
The MLS Innovator Network is an exclusive group of MLS and Association executives who meet monthly to discuss technology trends and hear pitches from leading PropTech companies.
On June 11, 2025, the Network welcomed Russell Smith, President and COO of Earnnest, the secure digital platform simplifying earnest money deposits in real estate. Founded in 2017, Earnnest has processed over 600,000 deposits totaling more than $3 billion, all without fraud or chargebacks.
Replacing the Paper Check
Russell Smith opened the session by spotlighting a simple but persistent pain point in the real estate transaction: getting earnest money into escrow.
Traditionally, this step can involve buyers writing physical checks, manually wiring funds, or navigating unclear email instructions, all under the stress of tight timelines. “The buyer receives an email that they hope is not a phishing attempt with wiring instructions, all to just pay this earnest point deposit,” Smith explained. “Earnnest is really built to make this entire piece go away, to make it much more seamless, easy, transparent for all parties, and most importantly secure.”
Earnnest replaces that legacy process with a secure, fully digital experience. Agents initiate the payment request. Buyers complete the deposit via a passwordless portal. Escrow holders receive the funds within 0–3 days, with everyone receiving automated receipts.
Easy Onboarding, Fast Adoption
Smith emphasized that the platform removes the friction typically associated with earnest money deposits, streamlining the request process to just a few steps. Agents only need the buyer’s name, email, phone number, the amount of earnest money, and the property address.
“Any agent’s going to be able to do this in 60 to 90 seconds,” Smith explained. “If we don’t have the escrow holder in our network yet, this is how we’re able to completely prevent fraud in the transaction.”
Even new escrow holders can be invited into the system quickly. Once an agent initiates a request, the buyer receives a secure link via email to complete the transaction. There’s no app to download, just a mobile-friendly web portal. The result is a familiar, quick, and painless experience that helps drive adoption across brokerages and MLSs.
Fraud Isn’t Gone
While wire fraud may not be making headlines as frequently as in previous years, it continues to pose a significant threat behind the scenes. The challenge lies in striking a balance between security and ease of use. Smith explained that one of Earnnest’s advantages is eliminating the weakest links: emails with sensitive wiring instructions, paper checks that can be intercepted, and systems that rely too heavily on manual processes. Instead, Earnnest offers a closed-loop solution with end-to-end encryption and verified users, removing the usual vulnerabilities.
By creating an environment where fraud has fewer entry points, Earnnest aims to quietly resolve an issue that’s still lurking beneath the surface.
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Pitch to the MLS Innovator Network
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