For one of the UK’s most lucrative tax-relief schemes, pensions have a pretty bad rap. And it’s easy to see why.  

Many workplace providers have complicated offerings with no saver app, long-winded integrations, poor customer service and excessive fees. It’s no wonder people are put off from saving.

Since the introduction of auto enrolment in 2012, payroll professionals have only been involved in pensions because they’ve had to be. It’s the same for employers. And savers often don’t engage with their pension or choose to opt out altogether – meaning it’s unlikely they’ll have the funds they need for a comfortable life after work.

But pensions don’t have to be complex and boring. Outdated providers have had their day.

In 2018, I co-founded Penfold to create an easy, simple and accessible way to help people save for the future. We built a modern, digital pension from scratch and an innovative mobile app.

With our app, savers can track down and combine pensions from their previous jobs, and forecast how much they’ll need to save with realistic yearly targets. Savers can change their investment strategy at any time, choosing a plan that suits their risk appetite and values. Plus, they can adjust their contributions whenever they like, easily topping up or skipping a month.

Almost five years later, we have over 70,000 savers and half a billion pounds in assets under administration. We’re helping individuals find £26.6 billion worth of lost pensions, supporting payroll professionals streamline pension management and strengthen client relationships, and ensuring employers get the most out of their most expensive benefit. And we’re not stopping there.

Penfold’s automated Xero integration

With our new 100% automated Xero integration, you can manage contributions without the press of a button, never uploading or processing a pension contribution file again.

We’re the first pension scheme to offer this kind of powerful integration to a mainstream payroll software. And soon to be the first pension in the Xero App Store!

But how can you process contributions without doing… anything? Well, for each of your clients that are connected to Xero and Penfold, we automatically process contributions every time you run or re-run payroll.

So, once you’re set up, there’s no need to spend any time sorting contributions, no need to log into Penfold to upload files after a pay run. Just use Xero as you usually would.

When we're done processing your client’s contributions, you receive an email to confirm the amount of pension contributions for the pay period.

It’s as simple as that. An innovative, automated integration for workplace pensions. When Nikki Shefferd, Director of N S Accounts and Xero Gold approved provider, connected her client, Automotive, to Penfold and Xero she said: "I did get excited when I saw Automotive was automatically done. Love it so far."

You’re probably thinking there’s a huge markup for this kind of effortless technology. But no! Penfold's free for payroll professionals, accountants, advisers and their clients. And the cost isn’t passed on to employees as a monthly charge either. They pay just one transparent saver fee based on the value of their pension pot.

With Penfold, you’re also guaranteed first-class service from your own dedicated account manager. So, if you need help switching providers, ever encounter any contribution mishaps, or simply have a question, you can contact your named account manager directly.

And with industry-leading funds managed by BlackRock and HSBC, a 5-star Defaqto rating, 4.4 Trustpilot score, and 5-star rated savers app, Penfold is trusted by payroll professionals, employers and their employees to help save for their futures.

The modern pension that’s better for everyone

For one of the UK’s most lucrative tax-relief schemes, outdated providers give pensions a pretty bad rap. But we’re here to change things.

By empowering accountants to simplify their pension management, we’re helping strengthen client relationships with a simple and accessible solution. Not to mention we’re helping employees engage in saving for retirement in an easy and meaningful way – and make the most of free money in the form of government tax relief.

But don’t just take our word for it. Before switching to Penfold in 2022, Cone Accounting was frustrated by unhelpful and confusing traditional providers. Cone’s clients often struggled to access and navigate their pension accounts, resulting in minimal engagement and little added value.

Ben Nacca, Founder of Cone Accounting, wanted to bring its pension offering into the 21st century.

“As a digital practice, we’re always trying to make sure that we have the right app stack. Xero for our accounting, Dext for our receipt management. We see Penfold as our pension option in that space,” explained Ben.

“The app is the big selling point with Penfold, having a nice clean UI that’s easy to understand.

Penfold's user-friendly approach and transparency revolutionised how we manage pensions for our clients.”