Hargreaves Lansdown teams up with Bottomline as moves to "cloud-first" payments

Hargreaves Lansdown is teaming up with US payments outfit Bottomline to support its shift to “cloud-first” payments, a key plank of its “redefining wealth management” strategy. Last month, Britain's largest retail investment firm laid out its plans to boost digital growth. It outlined plans to shell out £175m over the next five years to bolster its tech platform and build a new digital wealth advice offering. Hargreaves Lansdown CEO Chris Hill detailed the investment platform's five-year strategy, which looks to "redefine wealth management". A key part of the strategy was “transferring data to the cloud” as the investment firm boasted about the “infinite scalability of the cloud”.  Hargreaves Lansdown says it is now teaming up with Bottomline and using its PTX platform to support if “cloud-first” payments strategy. Bottomline's PTX is a Bacs-approved cloud platform, helping process international payments and giving access to open banking. Hargreaves Lansdown will use PTX to receive funds from its clients and distribute funds to them.  David Espley, chief technology officer, Hargreaves Lansdown, said the platform would give it “gives us access to infinite scale by harnessing the power of the cloud”. Espley added: “It was important for us to choose a safe, secure, and trusted payment provider, and following a full RFP, we took the decision to continue our relationship with Bottomline and migrate to their new PTX solution.  “The Bottomline solution also gives us the option to continue to develop our offering in future, as we see things like Open Banking develop.” Bottomline has offices in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific and works with thousands of businesses around the world.