Trustfolio Ltd, the ‘debt-tech’ collective behind the Debt Adviser Support Portal and other digital tools for creditors and third parties designed to ‘enable better debt solutions’, has partnered with Equifax (NYSE: EFX) “to launch a new feature powered by Open Banking.”
The new Debt Adviser Support Portal feature will “allow advisers to gain instant access to bank transaction data in an income & expenditure-friendly format, mapped to the Standard Financial Statement.”
Alongside the client credit reports from multiple Credit Reference Agencies already available via the Portal, this will “give users an even fuller picture of a clients’ financial situation in minutes rather than weeks.”
Trustfolio’s Debt Adviser Support Portal is “an adviser-led, ‘online anywhere’ digital platform for the not-for-profit advice sector, designed to save time and money by removing the administrative burden of gathering clients’ financial information.”
Backed by AdviceUK, the UK’s largest support network for independent advice organizations, and “used by over 160 agencies and 850 individual advisers, it has a track record of improving client engagement and outcomes.”
The Portal is “run and managed by a team with a background in the debt advice and wider credit sector who believe that technology should enhance rather than replace the adviser-client relationship.”
It offers the flexibility “to embrace new technologies and access relevant data according to the client’s individual circumstances, enabling advisers to more efficiently and effectively support even the digitally excluded and those with mental health issues.”
Ryan Hayes, COO – Advice Sector at Trustfolio, who heads up the Debt Adviser Support Portal, says:
“This new feature is an important step on the journey to making the Portal a one-stop-shop financial statement tool for debt advisers which we believe will transform debt advice delivery for the benefit of all involved. While we acknowledge that accessing a client’s banking data won’t always be appropriate or tell the whole story of their financial situation, the option and ability to do so instantly will save advisers time and improve client outcomes by providing a fuller picture of their circumstances.”
Hayes added:
“Debt advice sessions are becoming increasingly complex so by removing the administrative burden, we hope to enable advisers to focus on what is most important when it comes to dealing with those in financial difficulty as demand for advice continues to grow.”
Andy Sacre, Product Director for Open Banking at Equifax UK, said:
“We’re super excited that Equifax’s market leading Open Banking technology is powering our partnership with Trustfolio. We understand the importance now more than ever, of debt advisers being able to see a person’s full financial life in order to offer them the support they need.”
Sacre continued:
“We’ve been at the cutting-edge of the Open Banking movement for many years and are driven to work with more and more businesses to demonstrate the power of bank transaction data, especially when helping to get people out of debt.”
Trustfolio will also soon be “rolling out another new Debt Adviser Support Portal function which will enable advisers to refer a client to one of its selected panel of debt solutions providers.”