ClearBank recently explained how it is supporting WealthKernel to enhance the scalability of its service and underpin its clients’ ability to streamline the investment process.
Founded in 2015, WealthKernel is a provider of investment infrastructure for companies looking to offer investment services, whether as stand-alone or in addition to their present offering.
It serves a wide range of fintechs and wealth managers looking to launch, expand and re-platform, and firms looking “to leverage their technology to scale and enhance customer outcomes.”
WealthKernel is a vertically integrated broker and custodian “offering full investing functionality via an API, such as client onboarding, account opening, trading, portfolio management and custody.”
Its infrastructure is optimized “for the delivery of investment and wealth-management services to everybody.”
To evolve its offering, WealthKernel examined how “to make the customer deposit process as seamless as possible.”
While many platforms still relied on bank transfer or card payments that left customers waiting while their payments cleared into their trading account, it “saw an opportunity to support reliable, instant deposits.”
WealthKernel’s mission is to “make financial services better for everyday people.”
It saw the overnight clearing/next-day deposit solutions “offered by the existing clearing banks as a blocker to making wealth truly accessible.”
Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO of WealthKernel said:
“WealthKernel prides itself on working with businesses that are disrupting the investment sector and creating positive change in the industry, using their technology to lower the barriers of entry for everyday wealth and drive better outcomes for businesses and individuals alike.”
To deliver a seamless deposit-to-investment experience, it needed “a partner that aligned with its vision for the sector and ethos of API-first delivery.”
After examining its options, WealthKernel selected ClearBank due “to its proven track record for delivering accounts and clearing services and focus on innovation.”
In early 2022, WealthKernel went live “with Instant Matching Deposits, a new service for clients to offer their clients the ability to fund investment accounts and begin trading in a matter of minutes, rather than hours or days waiting for payments to clear.”
ClearBank is powering the service by “providing access to the UK’s Faster Payments System (FPS).”
This provides additional peace of mind and “is particularly compelling for new and perhaps more risk-averse customers who can be concerned about the status of funds while they are settling.”
ClearBank also provides WealthKernel with Client Money Accounts that “allow it to receive and hold money on behalf of customers as an Authorised Custodian.”
These accounts separate investment funds “from its own operating accounts in accordance with its obligation under the FCA’s Client Assets Sourcebook requirements.”
By removing manual processes through the automated reconciliation and allocation of investments to the right account, ClearBank is “supporting WealthKernel to significantly improve the scalability of its service and underpin its customers’ ability to enhance the investment experience.”
Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO of WealthKernel added:
“To give these innovative companies the best chance to succeed, they need better investment infrastructure that is easy to work with and scale. By partnering with ClearBank we’re addressing this need and are confident that the solution will open up the market for our clients and ensure a better experience for their end-users.”