Lloyds Banking Group has signed a deal with AJ Bell which will see the investment platform use the bank’s open banking payment solution.
The high street bank said AJ Bell was the first company in the wealth management sector to use the tool, which uses biometric authentication to approve payments from an investor’s bank accounts to their trading account.
Called ‘FundBy Bank’, the payment option will be added to AJ Bell’s direct-to-consumer offering Youinvest.
FTAdviser asked Lloyds if there is any scope for this open banking tool to be used on the advised side of the AJ Bell business.
Lloyds confirmed that there will be a possible implication for advisers – where the adviser takes in client funds via an existing payments platform, there is the potential for FundBy Bank to be integrated.
FundBy Bank was developed by Lloyds together with technology provider Bottomline. It avoids the need for investors to enter card details or log into their banking portal to approve a transaction.
Instead, the bank transfers funds via Faster Payments “almost instantly”, according to Lloyds.
AJ Bell strategy director, Tim Huckle, said the deal with the bank allows customers to top-up their Isas and investment accounts securely from their bank account “in just a few clicks”.
“Our mission at AJ Bell is to make investing simple, straightforward, and easy to access for our customers,” said Huckle.
“With that aim in mind, we are constantly exploring new ways to improve the customer experience for people using our website and app to invest.”
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
