What WinDeed does

WinDeed is an online search platform operated by LexisNexis Risk Management (Pty) Ltd — a registered South African credit bureau (NCRCB26) and subsidiary of LexisNexis/RELX Group — that aggregates data from all 11 South African Deeds Offices, CIPC, six credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, XDS, VeriCred, TPN, VCCB), the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Transport, the Surveyor General and the Master of the High Court into a single pay-per-search interface. The catalogue spans six core categories — Person/Company (with director and company reports, trust search, ID and bank account verification), Property (Deeds Office property, WinDeed Property Report, Automated Valuation, Transfers, address conversions, Map View), Documents (Deeds Office documents and copies, DOTS tracking, DOTS ADT subscriptions, Surveyor-General diagrams), Credit Searches (consumer and business profiles across multiple bureaus via WinCredit), Vehicle (TransUnion vehicle enquiry and Department of Transport vehicle ownership), and Alerts — supported by value-added modules including SearchInsure (90-day automatic monitoring), WinDeed Spider (nationwide property ownership profiling), Batch Search, WinDeed Notifications and WinDeed Lite for iPad. A proprietary CIPC name-matching algorithm and dual Live / WinDeed-Database search modes are notable technical differentiators.

The business model is pure usage-based: no subscriptions, monthly fees, licence fees or connection fees; customers register online (register.windeed.co.za), purchase Search Vouchers or transact on invoice, and pay per search. Deeds Office pricing is volume-tiered across five bands (R25.67 down to R21.65 excl. VAT per search at 1–500 to 2500+ monthly searches), and price points across the catalogue range from roughly R10 (Surveyor-General diagrams, VCCB contact info) to R482 (TransUnion Business Dynamic Rating). DOTS ADT provides a small recurring subscription element. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-customer through desktop (search.windeed.co.za), mobile-optimized (beta.windeed.co.za) and iPad (lite.windeed.co.za) web interfaces, supported by free training and a customer support centre (0861 946 333).

The customer base is structurally diversified across conveyancing attorneys, debt counsellors and other legal professionals; estate agents, surveyors and property researchers; banks, insurers and other credit providers (serviced via the separately registered WinCredit module to satisfy NCA prescribed-purpose requirements); compliance and KYC professionals; and individual/SMB users buying Search Vouchers for ID verification and debtor tracing. Headcount is reported at 11–50 employees and the company is headquartered in Bloemfontein/Johannesburg, operating exclusively in the South African market.

Name

WinDeed

Legal name

LexisNexis Risk Management (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://windeed.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WinDeed is South Africa's leading online search platform for individual, company and property information, operated by LexisNexis Risk Management. It aggregates Deeds Office, CIPC, six credit bureaus and government registries into a single pay-per-search interface for legal, property and credit professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Property, Company & People Information Services

NAICS

Investigation and Personal Background Check Services (561611)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro primary industry

Fraud Detection, Identity & KYC/AML for Mortgages (FSALALAH)

Keywords

• Property ownership searches
• Company director verification
• Credit bureau information
• Identity verification services
• Deeds office searches

Headquarters

HQ city

Bloemfontein

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Per-Search Transaction Fees: Core revenue from charging per individual search performed. No subscription, monthly fee, license fee, or connection fee. Volume-based pricing tiers (1-500, 501-1000, 1001-1500, 1501-2500, 2500+ searches per month) with decreasing per-search rates at higher volumes. Different categories of searches (Deeds Office, Person/Company, Property, Documents, Credit Bureau, Vehicle) each have their own pricing.
2. Document Copy Requests: Charges per document copy requested from the Deeds Office (e.g., title deeds, bond contracts). Scanned documents delivered immediately; backorder option available when Deeds Office is offline.
3. DOTS ADT Subscription: Automated Document Tracking (ADT) is charged per document per 30 days of monitoring, auto-renewable. This provides recurring revenue from users tracking property registrations over time.
4. Debit Order Collections: Payment collection via debit order through Standard Bank on behalf of LexisNexis Risk Management, processing on the 15th of each month for searches and document copy requests.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WinDeed is an online, pay-per-search platform operated by LexisNexis Risk Management in South Africa that aggregates Deeds Office, CIPC, Department of Home Affairs, Department of Transport, Surveyor-General and six credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, XDS, VeriCred, TPN, VCCB) into a single interface. Customers run person, company, property, vehicle, identity, sanctions and credit searches, request Deeds Office document copies, and subscribe to automated monitoring and document tracking services.

Product overview

WinDeed is South Africa's leading online search tool for individual, company and property information, operated by LexisNexis Risk Management as a registered credit bureau (NCRCB26). The platform operates as a unified search portal providing access to data from the Deeds Office, CIPC, leading credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, XDS, TPN, VCCB, VeriCred), Department of Home Affairs, Department of Transport, and participating banks. The product portfolio consists of six core search categories: Person/Company (property ownership, company/director reports, identity verification, trust searches, bank account verification, WorldCompliance screening), Property (Deeds Office property searches, property valuations, address conversions, transfers, map views), Documents (Deeds Office document details, copies, DOTS tracking, Surveyor-General diagrams), Credit Searches (consumer/business credit profiles from multiple bureaus), Vehicle (TransUnion vehicle enquiries, vehicle ownership searches), and Alerts (monitoring for individuals, companies, and properties). The platform also includes value-added services such as WinDeed Lite (iPad app), SearchInsure (90-day monitoring), Batch Search (bulk processing), and WinDeed Notifications (in-product alerts). Pricing is pay-per-search with no subscriptions, covering tiered Deeds Office rates from R25.67-21.65 excl. VAT per search based on volume.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SearchInsure: A monitoring service that tracks Deeds Office Person/Property, Director and Company searches for 90 days and notifies users of key changes.
• WinDeed Alerts
• WinDeed Spider
• WinCredit

Products and services

• Person/Company Searches Aggregated search category providing information on individuals and companies including property ownership at the Deeds Office, CIPC directorships, contact information, ID verification, bank account verification, and director/company reports, for legal, property and compliance professionals in South Africa.
• Property Searches Search category providing property information in South Africa including Deeds Office property searches, automated valuations, street/erf address conversions, transfers, map views, and trust property history for conveyancing, estate agency and valuation use.
• Document Searches Search category for Deeds Office documents providing document details, electronic document copies, DOTS document tracking and Surveyor-General diagram requests for legal professionals and property professionals.
• Credit Searches Search category providing credit bureau information on individuals and companies from multiple South African bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, XDS, TPN, VCCB, VeriCred) under the NCRCB26 registered credit bureau status for credit providers and financial institutions.
• Vehicle Searches Search category for vehicle information combining TransUnion vehicle enquiries (specifications and valuation) with Department of Transport vehicle ownership, vehicle details and ownership history searches.
• Deeds Office Person Search Online search from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform providing information on properties registered to a person, company or trust at any of the 11 South African Deeds Offices, for conveyancing and due-diligence use.
• Deeds Office Property Search Returns ownership and key registered information about a property in the Deeds Office, including property description, LPI code, extent, diagram deed number, owner information, endorsements and ownership history.
• Company Report Comprehensive report on companies and organisations registered in South Africa, including current status, registration number, enterprise type, industry, directors, auditors, capital structure, and history of changes, drawn from CIPC data with included SearchInsure 90-day monitoring.
• Director Report Provides information about directors or members associated with South African companies and uniquely identifies alternative director name variations caused by CIPC data capture errors, returning consolidated possible matches with 90-day SearchInsure monitoring included.
• Trust Search Confirms registered trusts and trustees captured at the Masters Office, indicating whether a trust is a registered legal entity that can own property and other assets.
• Trust Property History Search Provides detailed historic ownership information, registered property data and trustee counts for any registered trust, showing current and historical properties owned by a trust with Deeds Office registration details.
• Bank Account Verification Matches a bank account to an individual or company and verifies account details including status, whether the account is open/closed, and whether open for more than three months, across six participating South African banks (ABSA, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Capitec, African Bank).
• Home Affairs ID Verification ID Verification search using Department of Home Affairs data to verify registered details on an individual with a South African ID number, available without WinCredit activation.
• Home Affairs Photo ID Search Photo ID verification returning a verified photo and registered details on an individual with a South African ID number, including vitality status (including deceased status), citizenship, date of birth, age and gender.
• Foreign Identity Search Identity verification tool for confirming details of foreign nationals based on trusted international data sources, powered by LexisNexis Instant Verify International across 30+ countries.
• Deeds Office Sequestration Search Checks whether there is a sequestration document registered at the Deeds Office for a person or company, used by legal professionals before lodging property registrations.
• CIPC Reinstatement Search Determines whether a company or close corporation was active at the time of deregistration and provides information about immovable property registered in its name.
• WinDeed Spider Search In-depth property ownership profile on a person or company providing comprehensive nationwide property ownership information aggregated from the WinDeed database across multiple property associations.
• WorldCompliance Search Global due diligence screening tool accessing the LexisNexis WorldCompliance database of 2.5M+ profiles to detect individuals, organisations and vessels linked to 50+ risk categories including Sanctions, Foreign Officials and State Owned Enterprises.
• WinDeed Property Report Comparative Market Analysis tool providing property information from the WinDeed database including Deeds Office property description, street address, maps, comparable sales, suburb trends, owner information, bonds, municipal valuation, history and configuration.
• Automated Valuation Computer-assisted property valuation using information from Deeds Office and Surveyor General that analyses recent sales, property details and price trends to estimate property valuation (residential properties only).
• Transfers (Deeds Office) Provides access to property transfer data for all South African properties since 2002, including street address, registration date, purchase date, purchase price, property extent, title deed and bond information.
• Street to Erf Conversion Converts a street address into the corresponding erf or sectional scheme details using Deeds Office data.
• Erf/Scheme to Street Conversion Converts an erf number to the corresponding street address using official property description from the Deeds Office.
• Map View Cadastral map and aerial photograph view of a property with toggleable erf numbers, available for 30 days from purchase.
• Deeds Office Document Search Find details about documents registered at the Deeds Office including title deeds, bond documents, antenuptial agreements and interdicts.
• Deeds Office Document Copy Request electronic copies of documents lodged at the Deeds Office such as title deeds, bond contracts and antenuptial agreements, delivered in PDF and TIFF format; WinDeed Database version available at lower cost without Deeds Office outage risk.
• DOTS (Deeds Office Tracking System) Track the progress of documents as they move through the registration process at the Deeds Office using barcode, person, or property search criteria.
• DOTS ADT (Automated Document Tracking) Automated document tracking service that sends daily email updates on document status through the registration process for 30 days, auto-renewable per document (excluding weekends and South African public holidays).
• Surveyor-General Diagrams Request computerised images of diagrams, general plans and sectional title plans held at the Surveyor-General Office, delivered in PDF and TIFF format within a few days.
• TransUnion Consumer Profile Credit bureau information on an individual from TransUnion including credit history and payment behaviour for credit-providing customers (WinCredit activation required).
• TransUnion Business Profile Credit bureau business information from TransUnion including business credit history, financial indicators and products such as Business Dynamic Rating/SME Assessment, Business On File, Scan on File, Principal Default, Principal Links and Trade on File.
• TransUnion ID Verification Verifies an ID number against TransUnion's identity verification service as part of WinDeed's credit search offering.
• TransUnion Trace Non-footprinting solution using TransUnion data to locate individuals for debtor tracing and similar use cases.
• TransUnion Vehicle Enquiry Vehicle report providing specifications and valuation information including VIN number, manufacturer, make, model, derivatives, colour, specifications and retail/trade pricing via TransUnion data.
• Experian Consumer Profile Consumer credit profile from Experian with additional or alternative source options, including the optional Payment Profile (SACRRA members only), accessible via WinCredit activation.
• Experian Business Profile Business credit profile from Experian including credit history, business details and financial indicators.
• Experian Trace Trace search using Experian data to locate individuals as part of WinDeed's credit search offering.
• XDS Consumer Profile Consumer profile from XDS including Deeds Office and CIPC data combined with email address history, accessible via WinCredit activation.
• XDS Trace Economical trace search using XDS data to assist in tracking down an individual based on ID number, passport, personal details or contact details.
• XDS Consumer Trace Comprehensive XDS-based trace solution including debt review status, administration orders, sequestrations, default alerts and payment notifications.
• TPN (Tenant Profile Network) Profile Tenant profile of an individual or company for rental screening and tenant verification purposes, accessible via WinCredit activation.
• VCCB Contact Information Searches for consumer contact information and consumer profile data via VCCB (VeriCred Credit Bureau).
• WinCredit Access module consolidating credit bureau information from TransUnion, Experian, XDS, VeriCred and TPN under WinDeed's NCRCB26 registered credit bureau status; requires separate registration to comply with National Credit Act requirements.
• Vehicle Search - Person Vehicle Ownership Search returning all vehicles registered for an individual or organisation based on name and SA ID number or company name and registration number, drawing on Department of Transport data; restricted access requires separate application.
• Vehicle Search - Vehicle Details Detailed registered vehicle information including comprehensive vehicle specifications and registration details drawn from the Department of Transport; access restricted with separate application required.
• Vehicle Search - Vehicle Ownership History Ownership history of a specific vehicle based on registration number, useful for fleet management, fraud detection and financial auditing; access restricted with separate application required.
• WinDeed Alerts Subscription monitoring service for individuals, companies and properties that notifies users of key changes including Deeds Office ownership changes, CIPC director changes and optional TransUnion credit activity monitoring.

Quantifiable outcome

• Property transfers and ownership data available since 2002 across all of South Africa
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration17 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• TransUnioncoreTechnology or IntegrationTransUnion is a primary credit bureau data provider integrated into WinDeed's credit search offering. WinDeed provides TransUnion Consumer Profile, TransUnion Trace, TransUnion ID Verification, TransUnion Business Profile, and TransUnion Vehicle Enquiry searches. TransUnion is also a data provider for WinDeed Alerts (optional credit activity monitoring).
• ExperiancoreTechnology or IntegrationExperian is a credit bureau data provider integrated into WinDeed's credit search offering. WinDeed provides Experian Consumer Profile (with optional Payment Profile for SACRRA members), Experian Trace, and Experian Business Report searches. Note: Compuscan was acquired by Experian in April 2019 and the Compuscan Consumer Profile has been decommissioned in favour of the Experian product.
• XDScoreTechnology or IntegrationXDS is a credit bureau data provider integrated into WinDeed. WinDeed provides XDS Consumer Profile (which includes Deeds Office and CIPC data), XDS Trace, and XDS Consumer Trace searches.
• TPN (Tenant Profile Network)coreTechnology or IntegrationTPN is a credit bureau and tenant profiling service integrated into WinDeed for tenant profile searches on individuals or companies. Requires WinCredit activation.
• ABSA, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Capitec, African BankcoreTechnology or IntegrationSix major South African banks participate in WinDeed's Bank Account Verification service. The service sends consumer/business bank account details to participating banks which return a match confirmation including account holder name, ID/registration number, account status, account age, account type, and debit/credit acceptance. Participating banks: ABSA, FNB (First National Bank), Standard Bank, Nedbank, Capitec, and African Bank.
• Deeds Office (Department of Rural Development and Land Reform)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe Deeds Office is the primary data source for WinDeed's property and document searches. WinDeed accesses live Deeds Office data and maintains its own weekly-updated database. All 11 South African Deeds Offices are covered: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kimberley, King Williams Town, Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria, Vryburg, Umtata, Mpumalanga, Limpopo.
• CIPC (Companies and Intellectual Property Commission)coreTechnology or IntegrationCIPC is the data source for WinDeed's Company Report and Director Report searches. WinDeed's proprietary matching algorithm compensates for CIPC data capture errors, providing more comprehensive results than standard CIPC searches.
• Department of Home AffairscoreTechnology or IntegrationThe Department of Home Affairs provides identity verification data for WinDeed's Home Affairs ID Verification and Home Affairs Photo ID Verification searches. These do not require WinCredit activation. Data includes SA ID verification, photo ID, vitality status (including deceased status), citizenship, date of birth, age, and gender.
• LexisNexis (Global)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerWinDeed is operated by LexisNexis Risk Management and uses the global LexisNexis WorldCompliance database for sanctions and risk screening (2.5M+ profiles, 50+ risk categories, 30,000+ global sources). WinDeed also leverages the LexisNexis brand, infrastructure, and international data assets. Lexis WinDeed uses the Lexis® WinDeed trademark under license from RELX Intellectual Properties SA.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• LexisNexis Risk Solutions: Global parent organization and broader risk information services platform; WinDeed is the South African branded implementation of LexisNexis Risk Management, sharing data assets like WorldCompliance and Instant Verify International.

Direct peers

• VeriCred: South African credit bureau offering contact information and consumer profile searches, integrated into and competing with WinDeed for low-ticket screening searches.
• TransUnion South Africa: One of South Africa's largest credit bureaus and a data provider to WinDeed; also a direct competitor because TransUnion offers consumer/business credit profiles and vehicle data that customers could in principle access directly.
• Experian South Africa: Major credit bureau in South Africa (including the former Compuscan business, acquired in 2019); provides consumer and business credit data to WinDeed and competes for direct credit report customers.
• XDS (DataWorld): South African credit bureau providing consumer profiles, trace, and consumer trace searches — WinDeed resells XDS data, and XDS is also a comparable destination for credit information buyers.
• TPN (Tenant Profile Network): South African tenant screening bureau serving landlords and rental agents; integrated into WinDeed for tenant profile searches and competing for the same property professional buyer.
• VCCB (Vermaak and Company Credit Bureau): South African credit bureau providing consumer contact information and consumer profiles; integrated into and competing with WinDeed for contact and credit search buyers.

Regional players

• Property24: South Africa's leading property listing portal with property data, comparable sales, and suburb trend content that partially overlaps with WinDeed Property Report and Automated Valuation products for the property professional segment.

Others

• Master of the High Court / Deeds Office direct: Government registries that are the underlying data sources for WinDeed's property, company, and trust searches; users can in principle access some of this data directly, and they represent the upstream data providers in WinDeed's stack.
• CIPC (Companies and Intellectual Property Commission): South African government company registry; underlying data source for WinDeed's company and director reports and a free alternative for basic company searches, though WinDeed adds proprietary matching and consolidated reporting.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/windeedsearch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/LexisNexisSA
• Facebookfacebook.com/162950620403385
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/windeed

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WinDeed