Octopus Group has today agreed a deal to acquire Seccl Technology Limited for £10 million - subject to regulatory approval - as it sets out to disrupt the platform technology market that underpins retail financial services.

The acquisition comes at a time when many adviser and wealth management firms are struggling with rising costs and limitations of legacy systems, and where there is a growing pressure to provide customers with a smoother and more intuitive user experience.

Founded in 2017 and based in Bath, Seccl aims to help financial advisers, wealth managers, discretionary fund managers and fintechs deliver faster, cheaper and more flexible platform solutions to help manage and administer clients’ money.

Seccl does this using its best in class open API custody solution, allowing businesses of any size to rapidly build bespoke new investment platforms more easily and at a lower cost. API technology allows different pieces of software to communicate and share information in real time, and, as a result, businesses using Seccl can customise and control the client experience and integrate easily with other services, reducing the administrative burden some firms currently face.

In addition to the £10 million acquisition, Octopus will provide continued investment as it grows the business. Once the deal completes, it will look to expand the Seccl team with new engineering, product and design staff, some of whom will move over from Octopus Wealth.

For smaller advice firms who might prefer an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution, Seccl and Octopus will also build a full-service platform offering investment integration alongside Octopus Cash, the Octopus Investments cash management solution. Customers holding cash on the platform will, therefore, have easy access to a top tier interest rate.

Simon Rogerson, CEO and co-founder of Octopus Group, said in a statement: “We are delighted to welcome the Seccl team into Octopus Group. Millions of us use platform technology everyday whether for online banking or managing investments.

“It determines our user experience and investment cost”. But it’s a market crying out for change. Seccl’s innovative technology has the potential to completely transform the customer and client experience across retail financial services. The market opportunity is enormous and we are all excited by its potential.”