Cash savings platforms for advisers: a different job from advice

Most advice firms have clients with more cash than they need for day-to-day life, sitting in accounts that pay little. Advisers know it deserves attention, and the market has responded with cash savings platforms for advisers that make it easy to open accounts with many banks through one login. It is natural to ask whether a platform is all a firm needs for cash. We think the honest answer is that a platform and an evidenced recommendation do two different jobs, and a firm may well want both.

This article explains the difference, describes the main platforms fairly using their own published information, and sets out how the two can work together.

Why cash deserves a documented answer

The case for paying attention to cash is well documented. The FCA's cash savings action plan (31 July 2023) found that nine large providers passed on 28% of base rate rises to easy access deposits between January 2022 and May 2023, against 51% for notice and fixed accounts. It asked firms to "prompt their customers in lower paying savings accounts or non-interest bearing accounts to consider alternatives". The FCA's September 2024 update said "the largest firms continue to pay below average for easy access products".

Clients hold a great deal in cash. According to the FCA's Financial Lives 2024 key findings, "61% of adults with £10,000+ in investible assets held all or at least three-quarters of these assets in cash (58% in 2022)". AJ Bell, using Bank of England Bankstats, reported on 2 September 2026 that almost "£306 billion" was sitting in accounts paying no interest.

When an adviser recommends where a client's cash should go, the firm needs to be able to show why. That is where the two jobs separate. We cover the wider case in cash savings advice for advisers.

What cash savings platforms for advisers do

Deposit platforms let a saver, often introduced by an adviser, open and manage accounts with a range of banks and building societies through a single relationship. Their strengths are real:

• one login and one onboarding process instead of an application to each bank;
• portals for advisers to introduce and oversee clients;
• a simpler way to spread deposits across several banks;
• in some cases, no platform fee charged to the client; Flagstone, for example, says it is paid through a share of the interest.

Here is what four well-known platforms say about themselves, as seen in October 2026. These are the platforms' own figures and may change.

"Not published in the sources we reviewed" means only that we did not find it on the page listed. Check with the platform directly.

What an evidenced savings recommendation does

A recommendation answers a different question: of the products this client could use, which suit them best, and why? A well-evidenced recommendation usually shows:

• the client's circumstances and the amount to be placed;
• the client's priorities, such as branch access, comfort with digital banking, how soon they may need the money, and attitude to bonus rates;
• the products compared, with rates and terms as they stood on a stated date;
• the FSCS position for each product, including the effect of brands that share a banking licence;
• a ranked shortlist with the reasoning for the lead choice;
• who signed it, and when.

The FSCS point matters. Protection is "up to £120,000 per eligible person, per bank, building society or credit union", according to the FSCS, and brands sharing a banking licence are treated as one bank, so the limit applies to the total across them. Temporary high balances can be protected "up to £1.4 million for six months". Our article on the FSCS limit of £120,000 covers the detail.

Where Reckoner fits

Reckoner is a comparison and recommendation tool. It does not hold money or open accounts. It works through a short guided flow:

1. capture the client and the signing adviser, choose from 15 product categories of FSCS-protected products from direct deposit-takers, and enter the amount, which rules out unfundable products and flags FSCS limits;
2. a suitability questionnaire covering branch access, digital comfort, withdrawal needs, bonus rates and FSCS protection re-weights the ranking;
3. Reckoner checks rates, terms and FSCS status against the live market, then produces a nine-page branded client report, adviser-signed and dated, plus an Excel comparison.

Every report carries the date its market data is current to, and the firm keeps a history of every comparison. By our estimate, evidencing one savings recommendation drops from about 3 hours by hand to about 20 minutes.

Two limits are worth stating plainly. Reckoner's product universe is direct deposit-takers only, so it does not rank accounts offered through deposit platforms. And it is a tool for the adviser's recommendation; the advice and its suitability remain the firm's responsibility.

How the two fit together

In practice, firms can combine them in a few ways:

• Recommendation first. Use a comparison to evidence what suits the client, then decide how the money is placed: directly with the chosen deposit-takers, or through a platform where its convenience suits the client.
• Record the choice of route. If a platform is chosen for convenience or to spread deposits across banks, note why in the file, alongside the comparison.
• Revisit on a schedule. Rates move. Bank Rate was 3.75% when we checked, last changed on 18 December 2025, with the next decision due on 5 November 2026, according to the Bank of England. A dated report makes it easy to see when a recommendation needs refreshing.

Frequently asked questions

Is a cash platform the same as cash advice?

No. A platform opens and holds accounts with many banks. Advice explains which products suit a particular client and why, and the firm should be able to evidence it.

Can advisers use a deposit platform and an evidenced recommendation together?

Yes. A firm can compare and evidence first, then choose the route to place the money, recording why that route suits the client.

Does Reckoner open savings accounts?

No. Reckoner compares FSCS-protected products from direct deposit-takers and produces a signed, dated recommendation report. It does not hold money.

To see a recommendation built live, read about Reckoner or book a demo: twenty minutes on Microsoft Teams with Adam Booth, on a demo firm, with nothing to prepare.