Woven Advice isn’t just talking about platform switching - it’s exposing the hidden headaches that come with it. Its latest whitepaper, ‘Platform Switching Eats Strategy for Breakfast’, dives deep into the inefficiencies, roadblocks, and sheer frustration advisers face when moving clients between platforms.

From clunky processes to data dead-ends, the report unpacks why switching is often harder than it should be - and more importantly, how firms can turn these challenges into opportunities. Packed with practical insights and useful industry commentary, including from Criterion's Nick Green, it sheds light on how better standardisation, integrations and smoother transitions can boost client outcomes while streamlining operations for advisers. 

Drivers for platform switching 

According to Woven Advice’s report, poor platform service is a major driver of change - 36% of advisers switched platforms last year due to service concerns, while a staggering 96% say bad service disrupts their daily operations.

Regulatory shifts, pension reforms, and evolving client needs all contribute to platform switching, but friction from underperforming platforms is a significant factor driving advisers to explore better options. As new, service-focused providers emerge, the expectation for platforms to improve efficiency and support is higher than ever.

But switching isn’t always an easy decision. Much like moving house, it comes with significant financial expenses, operational disruptions, and even emotional hurdles. Many advisers hesitate - potentially risking their clients’ best interests. But in a world where Consumer Duty is front and centre, sticking with an inefficient platform isn’t just inconvenient - it could be the wrong call.

The lack of meaningful integrations

The whitepaper highlights a major pain point for financial advisers: the lack of seamless integrations between platforms and adviser systems. 85% of advice firms say integration gaps create inefficiencies, with some juggling up to 13 different systems that don’t always work well together. Limited API access and inconsistent data-sharing have led to what’s known as the "lobster pot" effect where onboarding clients is easy, but extracting and transferring their data is anything but.

Platforms also face their own challenges, with high integration costs eating into margins, and compliance pressures adding further strain. Without consistent standards, advisers are left dealing with failed transfers, manual workarounds, and regulatory risks. To move forward, the industry needs to embrace scalable, standardised integrations that make life easier for both advisers and platforms.

Harnessing technology for platform switching 

The whitepaper discusses harnessing technology solutions available today, allowing advisers to reduce their stress and reluctance around switching platforms for their clients. 

Woven Advice is proposing a shake up to the platform switching process - not just by digitising the same old manual steps, but by completely rethinking the approach. Its proposed model is built from the ground up to fully harness the power of digitalisation, making switching smoother, smarter, and more efficient. 

The report highlights that the standards and legal frameworks alongside technology already exist for a more consumer-focused platform switching – it’s now about aligning the industry and committing to collaboration and implementation. 

Criterion standards for greater efficiency

The whitepaper also discussed some of our key standards developed through industry collaboration and designed to benefit the entire sector. However, without widespread adoption and a true recognition of their impact on operational efficiency and cost savings, their full potential remains unrealised. 

'The challenge is no longer innovation - it's adoption.'

To reduce inefficiencies, eliminate manual workarounds, and enhance service quality, the industry must commit to implementing these standards at scale. By doing so, platforms and advisers can drive meaningful progress - streamlining operations, improving client outcomes, and fostering a more connected, efficient financial ecosystem.

Platform Account Opening Standard

Our Platform Account Opening (PAO) Standard is designed to improve the platform onboarding processes to benefit the adviser and their clients. Standardised data definitions are crucial for consistency, improving data quality and reducing the need for rekeying and human error. 

API technologies are built to seamlessly integrate with leading technical architectures, ensuring they stand the test of time. With our ongoing commitment to maintaining and evolving these standards alongside market and regulatory changes, firms can trust they’ll stay relevant, reliable, and ready for the future.

Nick Green, Strategy and Proposition Director: 

Criterion plays a pivotal role in shaping the financial services industry by bringing together stakeholders in shared areas of process and communication pain to devise, agree and implement common solutions and standards. In fact, we’ve been trusted by the industry to perform this essential role for over 30 years and work with hundreds of financial services organisations. Across areas like quotes, valuations and remuneration reporting, Criterion research suggests that our standardised data integration ‘templates’ facilitate hundreds of millions of adviser-facing transactions each year, and our Common Declaration standard supports more than a million pension transfers annually. Newer integration standards, including those for Letters of Authority (LoA), Model Portfolio Services and Platform Account Opening, build on this to help streamline these processes, improving efficiency, managing risk, and reducing operational costs. By aligning with regulatory requirements, we help financial institutions meet compliance obligations more easily. Our work fosters a more connected and efficient industry ecosystem, and adoption of modern technologies like OpenAPI enables tech providers to innovate for the benefit of advisers and their clients.

LoA Standards

Our LoA Standards enable the transfer of client information between providers and advisers, reducing paper-based processes and delays. 

We recently launched the LoA Data Checklist, a free standard for advisers, aimed at encouraging provider adoption of the LoA Standards.