Gretel, a platform which reconnects people with lost and dormant financial accounts, has launched e-trace, a fully digital tracing service for financial institutions, including life insurance providers, banks, investment companies and pension providers.
The solution enables firms to locate and re-engage customers in days rather than months, while reducing operational costs and demonstrating compliance with evolving regulatory expectations.
The Dormant Assets Act 2022 and the FCA’s Consumer Duty require firms to show proactive, fair and outcome-focused engagement, yet most tracing still relies on manual, paper-based processes.
And dormancy is a growing challenge for the industry. Despite extensive remediation efforts, the number of “gone-away” or unresponsive customers continues to rise, particularly across long-term savings, pensions and insurance.
Gretel’s e-trace system allows firms to identify verified digital contact details and reach customers through branded, secure online channels. The result is faster tracing, stronger auditability, and improved customer experience, all while removing the cost and environmental burden of traditional mail-based methods.
Duncan Stevens, CEO of Gretel, said: "Life insurance policies often span decades, making customer contact one of the sector's biggest operational challenges. Tracing shouldn’t be a reactive exercise triggered only when accounts go dormant. e-trace helps life insurers act earlier, engage customers digitally, and maintain trust over time. It transforms tracing from a compliance necessity into an ongoing part of responsible customer lifecycle management.”
