A London-based fintech has launched an app to help IFAs manage client documents and keep track of client's financial plans through the use of open banking.
Lyfeguard, which was co-founded by Fraser Stewart and his father Gary Stewart, allows advisers to store, share and organise financial information, as well as legal documents, birth certificates, and wills - with the ability to pass documents between friends and family within the app.
The app also lets advisers set reminders, and produces reports on financial health via a dashboard.
Using open banking, Lyfeguard auto-populates the dashboard with up-to-date bank and credit card balance totals.
“We set out to create a solution that resolved the two key problems of poor personal document management and simple end-of-life and legacy planning," said Fraser, Lyfeguard's chief operating officer.
"Current competitors typically focus solely on the latter, but Lyfeguard strives to make personal and information accessible and useful in life too, for a holistic life planning experience which isn’t just centred around death."
Fraser said the app has been made possible through several partnerships and integrations with application programme interfaces - the technology which underpins open banking.
"There are a number of exciting collaborations already in the pipeline to take the platform to the next level," Fraser added.
The app also uses two-factor authentication for sign-in, as well as AES-256 encryption - a form of security which conceals plaintext data using an algorithm.
Before Lyfeguard, Fraser was a digital acquisition manager at HSBC. He also spent four years at British Airways, where he worked on the flagship airline's marketing.
Father Gary previously founded Xceed Group, an IT management consultancy he ran for nearly 15 years.
"After the recent death of a close friend, I was asked by his family to sort out his estate. I agreed to help of course, but I must admit to being overwhelmed by the task which was made more difficult because of the grief we were all suffering," said Gary, Lyfeguard's chief executive.
"Not knowing the location of important information was difficult, particularly when it came to financial and legal documentation. This elongated the grieving process making it harder for all involved.
"I decided then I wouldn’t want to leave my family in a similar position if something happened to me and so, the Lyfeguard vision was born. Now no one should have to struggle with the same problems I did."
The father and son duo reckon their app will help IFAs and their clients spend less time on life admin, and help draw together the billions in unclaimed assets which currently sprawl the UK, according to government data.
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
