As well as making life easier for advisers, new functionality will mean Seccl-powered platforms are 20x more efficient at processing payments than comparable platforms
Seccl, the Octopus-owned custodian and platform technology provider, has launched functionality allowing client payments made by bank transfer to clear and invest instantly.
Typically, when a client makes a payment by bank transfer to their adviser platform, the cash will be handled by the platform’s operations team – and both the client and their adviser will have to wait anything from a few hours up to a few days for the money to be reconciled and allocated to the right account, ready for it to be invested.
However, thanks to its integration with Lloyds Bank’s new ‘Event Driven Notification’ API, clients using Seccl-powered platforms can put their money to work instantly. Cash sent correctly by bank transfer will be visible in their platform account straight away, and can be executed in the market in under 10 seconds.
As well as removing a significant point of friction and delay in the investment journey, the new functionality is instrumental in allowing Seccl to provide a market-leading level of operational efficiency to the platforms it powers. Seccl’s operations team can now manage around 250,000 client payments per year per operations staff – or roughly 20x that of a comparable adviser platform. [1]
Dan Marsh, Seccl’s Head of Customer, said:
“This is just one of the ways in which technology can make life fundamentally easier for advisers using Seccl-powered platforms. No more rushing around at Tax Year End to make sure clients send their cash ahead of an internal operations deadline; now, they can move and invest their cash completely instantly, and entirely seamlessly. It’s also a good example of how we want to make the experience as efficient – and therefore affordable – as possible.”
Rather than offering a platform directly to advisers, Seccl provides custody, investment technology, user interfaces and client money banking that, when combined, allow firms to operate their own platform – controlling the customer experience and reducing the client cost in the process.
The P1 Platform, which is powered by Seccl, was recently named Digital Process Champion by NextWealth, and voted number one for overall service by advisers in The Lang Cat’s most recent survey.
James Priday, CEO of P1 Investment Management, commented:
“This is a really welcome development that creates a positive outcome for clients, advisers and our own platform staff alike. It’s thanks to operational efficiencies and digital processes like these that we can operate our own platform without significant headcount – all while providing a better service than existing, third-party platforms.”
The new functionality is made possible through collaboration with Seccl’s client money banking partner, Lloyds Bank – whose growing API suite allow for the streamlining of internal cash operations processes.
Steve Everett, MD Payables & Receivables, Client Products at Lloyds Bank, said:
“We are proud to be supporting Seccl as it strives to improve clients’ investment experience through its enhanced platform functionality.
“Lloyds Bank’s new Event Driven Notification API helps Seccl provide a friction-free investment journey by delivering real-time payment transparency and reconciliation information.”
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[1] Industry benchmarking data shows comparable UK platforms to manage 11,459 client payments per operations team member per year.
For journalists in their professional capacity only. Issued by Seccl Technology Limited. Registered in England and Wales at 20 Manvers Street, Bath, BA1 1JW (Number: 10237930). Issued: June 2021.