CompaniesJun 25 2020

NS&I portal attracts hundreds of advisers

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NS&I portal attracts hundreds of advisers

More than 600 advisers are using the advice portal launched by government-owned savings bank National Savings and Investment, it has said. 

NS&I — a government agency which offers saving and investment products to the public — launched the online service in May 2019 to provide advisers with client information through a purpose built portal. 

In its annual report published this week the company said hundreds of advisers had signed up to use the service amid high customer retention rates. 

The savings bank said whilst there was a "clear trend" towards self-service for everyday banking and saving it was aware many of its customers relied on financial advisers to help with long-term financial planning.

Ian Ackerley, chief executive of NS&I, said: "We have taken steps to improve the service we provide to financial advisers.

"The launch of our new adviser portal in May 2019 has proved a success; it allows advisers to view their clients’ full NS&I holdings in a single window – which in turn makes it far simpler for them to provide relevant advice."

The service is available to advisers through a secure log-in and gives them access to a list of their clients with NS&I holdings, client portfolio and transaction history, valuations of fixed term accounts and any communications between their clients and the bank.

NS&I spent two years working on the launch after the bank admitted it had "not always made it easy" for advisers to interact with it. 

An overhaul at the service in 2018 allowed advisers to access information about their clients’ NS&I holdings by phone and it said it would hold client letters of authority on file, rather than requiring one each time a request was made.

rachel.mortimer@ft.com

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