NS&I has unveiled a long-awaited new online service for financial advice firms allowing them to see for the first time a client’s full NS&I holdings when they want.

The online launch follows the arrival of a telephone service in February last year offering similar access.

Advisers now have secure online access to information on their clients’ NS&I holdings for the first time, via a purpose built portal.

Access to details of client’s NS&I holdings has long been on the wish-list of many Financial Planners but for technical and ownership reasons has been difficult to achieve until now.

The launch is the first version of the new service, with further enhancements planned for later this year including: joint account information and trust account information.

The online service is available via secure log-in on at nsandi-adviser.com.

NS&I says it should mean a “closer and more effective relationship between advice firms and NS&I.”

Once registered, advice firms will be able to:

·       View a list of their clients with NS&I holdings (subject to a Letter of Authority)

·       Select a client and view their NS&I portfolio

·       View the transaction history of an account

·       Get a valuation of fixed term accounts and see their maturity dates

·       View copies of communications sent to their clients from NS&I

·       View a client’s Premium Bonds prize history

All staff in an advice firm can be granted access by a ‘super-user’ in the firm, including all financial advisers, Financial Planners, Paraplanners and other staff, says NS&I.

Andrew Pike, head of intermediary relationships at NS&I, said: “NS&I has spent the last two years working on this initiative, so it is very pleasing to see it go live and to know that many advice firms will be excited to hear this news.

“We are fortunate that most advice firms are supporters of NS&I, but I accept that we have not always made it easy for them to interact with us and this can affect the onward service they give to their clients. This new online service addresses this issue. The new portal represents a significant investment by NS&I and is a clear statement of our intent to form closer ties with the advice industry, to the benefit of all parties.”

Peter Osborne, client director at Paradigm Norton Financial Planning, told NS&I: "This new service from NS&I is a most welcome development, enabling us to easily obtain an up to date consolidated list of client holdings. This saves time, improves efficiency and allows us greater monitoring of a client’s overall financial plan – which is better for everyone”

Phil Billingham, Chartered Financial Planner at Perceptive Planning, added: “The online service will make it much easier to manage our clients’ NS&I investments. NS&I have created a useful tool that says a lot about their commitment to building a strong relationship with advisers. We are delighted that we were able to work with NS&I in tweaking the process in making it even more adviser friendly.”

Government-owned NS&I serves 25m customers who have invested £157 billion.