“Can a modern digital pension wrapper become the default embedded retirement layer inside UK payroll and accounting software?”
Founded as a digital-first personal pension product, Penfold evolved into a workplace auto-enrolment pension platform targeting employers and financial advisers. The company built a modern infrastructure stack on top of Seccl Custody for asset safekeeping and adopted TrueLayer for open-banking-powered payment initiation to replace slower traditional contribution rails. Its most material recent pivot is the build-out of deep payroll integrations (Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Pento, FreshPay), repositioning Penfold as the embedded pension layer inside UK payroll software rather than a standalone consumer app.
Penfold connects to bank accounts through TrueLayer.
Penfold integrates with Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Penfold's stack: Open banking (TrueLayer); Accounting (Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent).
Penfold is founded in 2018 and headquartered in London, UK.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Penfold and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.