The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (Icas) has renewed its “strategic partnership” with Amiqus, as the Leith-headquartered tech firm sees a surge in uptake among regulated businesses.
The compliance and “onboarding platform” said it has experienced a 62 per cent increase in the number of regulated businesses signing up since November last year.
Amiqus has more than doubled revenue in each of the last three years and is set to exceed this in 2022, with plans to hire a further 20 people.
In the three years since Icas first partnered with the technology firm, the push from regulators for accountancy firms to conduct regular due diligence on clients and key members of staff, as well as changing client expectations, has accelerated the uptake of software that reduces administrative burdens, Amiqus noted.
Natalie Ferguson, a business development manager at Amiqus, who worked with the accountancy body on the latest partnership, said: “As more and more essential financial and governmental services are moved online to enable remote access – from your council tax to renewing your passport – we all expect a swift and secure onboarding experience to keep our transactions moving.
“No one wants to provide their personal documents in person or even by email for verification, when they know there’s a better remote alternative.”
Gregor Angus, senior business development manager at Amiqus, said: “Partnering with regulators like Icas, and speaking with their membership, enables us to understand the challenges accountancy firms are facing.
“This partnership also gives us the opportunity to share with them what we’re learning in other sectors, as well as the results of our research and development, such as our work related to the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework.”
Jeremy Clarke, assistant director of practice at Icas, added: “It’s great news for Icas members that we have extended our three-year strategic partnership with Amiqus. With the move to increased remote and hybrid working, accountancy firms need, more than ever, to be able to facilitate secure, digital compliance checks.
“Amiqus can make it easier for firms to meet regulatory requirements for anti money laundering and Know Your Customer (KYC) by bringing client and staff compliance checks and onboarding into one secure online account.”
Source: The Scotsman