Quotemonster responds to new adviser regime

Life insurance price comparison site Quotemonster is tightening up access to its service in reaction to new licensing regime.

Friday, October 4th 2019, 8:42PM

“QuoteMonster will be making changes to its service as a response to the new licensing environment. With transitional licensing just around the corner these changes will start to be implemented from now," Quality Product Research chief executive Alan Rafe says.

"Essentially, we will be tightening up who has access to their pricing and research engine and ensuring there is a clear record of access. With the increase in responsibility placed on Financial Advice Providers they will need to ensure it is clear who is providing the advice (financial entity) and who has access to the account from a privacy perspective."

Key changes to ensure only advisers use the system include:

FSP-number validation is being integrated, via an API, with the Financial Service Providers Register so it will be able to monitor in real time the registration details and status of an FAP / FA account.
It will restrict the number of devices that can access an account and require email verification with each device
Provide the ability for administration and or compliance people to access a FAP/ FA account under their own login to monitor access (small fee required)
These changes will be implemented over the next couple of months as a gradual process to ensure as little disruption to advisers as possible.

"Changes to regulation in the industry require us to do our part to support advisers during the advice process," Rafe says.

"More responsibility will be placed on the Financial Advice Provider to ensure that the advice process is followed, and these changes will assist them in this process."

"We think the use of independent research will be an important tool for advisers when providing advice. Most of our users will not see any change in the access they have and will only need to register their devices. Others will need to update their FSP details or login details to ensure that the disclosures in their quotes and research reports clearly identify them."

Tags: Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act Quotemonster