In the latest episode of The Home Stretch podcast, Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, speaks about the potential pending issue with regard to client accounting and letting agents with the possible solutions offered by proptech.
McKenzie is joined on the podcast by Matt Gibbard from LettsPay, an automated client accounting engine that makes reconciling tenant rental payments and remaining compliant far easier.
Proptech platforms such as LettsPay are revolutionising the market. Originally holding the funds in an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and not a bank, this gave flexibility and security to the agents. However, the Client Money Protection (CMP) regulations are written in such a way that they have been interpreted to be inflexible with new initiatives such as EMI’s. This has not stopped LettsPay as they have produced a new product that works with all banks, so it gives agents the great automation of LettsPay and the funds are stored in the Bank. This is a fully compliant automated solution.
Gibbard notes that a state-of-the-art rental collection platform will help letting agents save valuable time while ensuring they remain compliant with CMP and AML regulations. “We have built the system which tracks where every penny comes from and where it is going, ensuring agents are fully in control of their clients’ money. Through the system, each firm would have an automated designated client account for each of their landlords to speed up reconciliation, but the funds are stored in a bank, which has a full reconciliation and audit trail, all under the name of the agent.”
During the podcast, McKenzie and Gibbard discuss various other aspects around client accounts and how a platform such as LettsPay can help agents manage their lettings portfolios, deal with the required legislative requirements and save time, while remaining compliant.
To hear this conversation in full, visit The Home Stretch podcast.
