Tech firm hands product upgrade decisions to adviser users

The firm has asked financial planners to submit ideas for updates to its flagship platform, Onboard, and is balloting them on which to implement alongside its own planned upgrades.

Onboard comprises a suite of fact-finding, risk-profiling, client agreement, billing and digital signature tools – all from a single client-facing app and adviser dashboard.

The voting system will be used in all future product releases. It was trialled successfully during the latest update this month with users voting to add 'digital filing cabinets', with shared access for advisers and their clients, and 'multi-agreements', a tool to create bespoke client servicing agreements.

Other updates in the latest version of Onboard include reminders to conduct client reviews, faster adviser-client messaging, quicker page-loading times and security updates to stay ahead of emerging threats.

Co-founder and chief technology officer, André Costa, said: “If you want to know how to build financial advice software, you should ask financial advisers. Every time a member of our adviser community asks us for a feature, we will put it to a vote. If it’s popular, we promise to build it.

“Like any tech firm, we also have our own product roadmap. As well as listening to the best ideas of our users, we’ll be asking them if they think our ideas give them the tools they need to improve their services as financial planners."