That certainly could be done... but there are a couple of practical problems that I think you would run into.  First is getting the client to agree to that.  Our industry is quite accustomed to NET30 billing (or NET45, lately) and why would a client use an examiner that required them to pay for their orders before they could get them when so many others are more than willing to extend short-term credit?

Second, you would lose a fairly significant amount to credit card processing fees - typically 3% or so, plus transaction fees.  With abstractors operating on such a thin profit margin, giving up even a few percent of their total gross revenue doesn't seem to be an attractive option.

Third, if someone were to design such a system, it would likely come with extra "per transaction" charges.  You would be using a third-party system to upload your work and process the credit card transactions.  That system must be maintained and it would require a sufficient amount of bandwidth to handle large files to be sent back and forth.  I would expect a charge of somewhere around $1 per order on that end.

Thus, I would "guestimate" that on a $45 current owner, you would only collect about $42. 

That being said - it is very possible to do.  We could even do it on Source of Title, a place where many abstractors and their clients already visit.  However, I don't believe that enough people would actually use it (or be willing to pay for it) to justify the development and hosting expenses.

We have considered offering an order management system via Source of Title many times.  Something that would allow abstractors to upload their orders, and provide easy online access to their back-title work, that could include online payment options for customers. The drawback is that it would require a large participation from both the abstractors and their clients to make it feasible and we just haven't gotten the impression that there is enough interest.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
SOURCE OF TITLE