How an Adviser Secured Early-Stage Client Trust Beyond The Portal

In advice journeys, trust is built through small, repeatable moments - including how you request, send, and handle sensitive information.

Ben Beck is a self-employed independent financial adviser (IFA) who wanted a practical way to exchange sensitive client information by email without introducing the cost, complexity, and usability issues that often come with client portals.

After seeing Mailock on LinkedIn and running a short trial, Ben adopted it as an Outlook-integrated secure email layer that helps him protect sensitive communications while keeping the experience familiar for clients.

Channel choice is critical when communicating with clients, and client portals will never suit everyone.

For Ben, secure email is an additional secure channel that suits early-stage client interactions, document exchanges, and any scenario where portal friction slows progress or undermines confidence.

Who Is the Financial Adviser?

Ben Beck is an independent financial adviser and money coach, working as a regulated individual.

His day-to-day work involves handling sensitive personal and financial information, including identity details, bank information, suitability documentation, and product-related records.

As a small business owner, he also has to make security workable.

That means choosing controls that reduce risk, support good outcomes, and remain usable for a broad range of clients.

The Challenge

Ben’s baseline view was straightforward: standard email is not designed for sensitive financial communications.

However, he also recognised that many “secure” alternatives create new risks of their own - particularly due to poor usability.

In practice, portals can introduce friction at exactly the point the adviser-client relationship is still forming.

From Ben’s experience (and observing common adviser discussions), client adoption varies widely.

Some clients forget usernames and passwords, struggle with unfamiliar interfaces, or simply prefer email. That friction can slow onboarding and create additional administrative overhead.

Ben also considered cost and proportionality.

As a smaller practice, he wanted a solution that met his current needs without locking him into a portal-style model that was expensive to run and difficult to support.

The Solution

Why Mailock Fit Ben’s Workflow

Ben selected Mailock because it fits how advisers actually work.

It integrates into Outlook, which meant he could protect sensitive emails without changing his normal workflow.

Crucially, his clients did not need to create an account to open or reply.

Ben also valued the ability to apply recipient authentication using SMS verification, which felt appropriate in early-stage interactions where the relationship is still developing and sensitive information still needs to move quickly.

"It enhances the client experience early on. You might be a small business, but it shows you take data security seriously - and it gives a more professional image from the outset."

Ben Beck, Independent Financial Adviser

What Mailock Enables Day to Day

• Secure email directly from Outlook, without separate tools or workflows
• No client account creation, reducing drop-off and follow-up chasing
• Simple document return via secure reply, rather than portal uploads
• Consistent handling of sensitive data across early and ongoing client interactions

What Ben Sends Using Mailock

Ben uses Mailock for information that is sensitive by nature, or that could reasonably increase risk if misdirected or intercepted.

This includes:

• Suitability reports and draft advice documentation
• Confirmation of personal and financial details
• Product documentation containing client-specific data

He also uses Mailock as a secure collection method when clients need to send documents back.

Instead of relying on a portal, Ben sends a Mailock message listing the documents required and asks the client to reply with attachments.

This keeps the process contained within email while still applying a secure envelope to the exchange.

Security Alerts That Support Good Judgement

Ben highlighted the value of Mailock’s in-context prompts within Outlook.

Each email clearly shows whether it is secure or unsecured, and Mailock prompts the user before sending.

He also makes use of Mailock's security alerts (keyword prompts) which flag potentially sensitive terms and nudge him to consider whether protection is appropriate.

In his experience, Mailock’s approach supports decision-making without creating avoidable interruption.

The Outcome

For Ben, the impact of Mailock is less about introducing a new system and more about removing points of failure in the existing one.

Operationally, this shows up in small but meaningful ways:

• Faster early-stage exchanges, with fewer follow-ups to resolve access issues
• Less time spent supporting clients through passwords or portal navigation
• Clearer, more consistent handling of sensitive information

Ben framed return on investment primarily in risk terms.

He described it as safeguarding: reducing exposure to avoidable issues that could damage trust, create complaints, or consume time and attention in remediation.

That perspective aligns with how many small professional firms think about cyber resilience - as both an efficiency gain and way to avoid paying the “incident tax” later.

For clients who prefer email - or where the portal experience is likely to slow things down - it provides advisers with a secure channel that remains straightforward to use.

"It’s easy to understand, reasonably priced for what it delivers, and does exactly what I need right now."

Ben Beck, Independent Financial Adviser

FAQs

Is Mailock a Replacement for a Client Portal?

In Ben’s experience, Mailock works well as an additional secure channel, particularly where portal friction affects uptake, pace, or client confidence.

Do Clients Need an Account to Open a Secure Email?

Clients can access and reply to Mailock messages without creating an account, which helps reduce friction in early-stage client interactions.

What Types of Content Does Ben Protect With Mailock?

Ben uses Mailock for suitability reports, product documentation, and confirmation of client details.

Can Clients Send Documents Back Securely?

Clients can reply directly with attachments, and the response arrives in a secure envelope.

References

Consumer Duty, Financial Conduct Authority

Encryption Guidance, Information Commissioner’s Office

Reviewed by

Sam Kendall, 19.01.26