OneVest powers CST Spark's digital education savings

OneVest has partnered with CST Spark to provide the technology behind CST Spark's digital education savings platform, which is now live.

The arrangement gives CST Spark's mutual fund representatives a bilingual portal for onboarding and account opening, while families receive an online client portal. The platform includes deposits, transfers, and auto-investing, as well as digital identity verification and access to documents such as agreements, statements, and tax forms.

CST Spark operates in the Canadian education savings market, where families set aside money for post-secondary education. The partnership combines that focus with OneVest's software for wealth management firms, as financial groups face pressure to replace older systems and offer simpler digital services.

For CST Spark, the change centres on how representatives open and manage accounts with clients in English and French. The technology brings several processes together into a single system, giving families clearer visibility into their savings and reducing manual administration for staff.

Digital shift

The move reflects a broader push across financial services to modernise client-facing systems and back-office processes at the same time. Firms specialising in savings and investment products have increasingly updated their infrastructure to meet customer demand for online access while maintaining a human advisory model.

OneVest says its platform can be adapted for firms with different business models rather than requiring a standard setup. Here, the technology has been applied to a business focused on education savings, a niche with its own regulatory and operational requirements within Canada's investment market.

CST, through the wider group behind its brand, has helped families save for education for more than six decades. The latest rollout is intended to support that longstanding business as consumer expectations shift toward digital account management and easier access to information.

A senior CST executive described the partnership as part of that transition.

"For more than 65 years, CST has been committed to helping Canadian families save for post-secondary education and create opportunities for future generations. As we continue to evolve, we wanted a partner that understood both the importance of that mission and the unique needs of the families we serve. OneVest has helped us build a stronger foundation for the future, allowing us to enhance the experience for families while remaining focused on what matters most: making it easier for Canadians to plan and save for their children's educational goals," said Tony D'Alessandro, Chief Technology Officer at CST.

Market focus

The partnership also shows how specialist financial firms are relying on external technology providers rather than building every tool in-house. For providers such as CST Spark, that can mean adopting software that handles onboarding, account opening, and document access in a more unified way, while preserving the role of representatives who guide customers through savings decisions.

Education savings products occupy a distinct place in the Canadian market because they are tied to long-term family planning and government-supported savings structures. That makes customer trust and administrative clarity especially important, particularly when accounts are opened for children and managed over many years.

By adding online deposits, transfers, and automated investing tools, CST Spark aims to give customers more direct control over routine actions without removing contact with a representative. The inclusion of digital identity verification also signals a broader shift in financial services, as firms seek to shorten account-opening times and reduce reliance on paper-based checks.

OneVest, which serves financial institutions in Canada, the United States, and other markets, has positioned its software as a single operating layer that replaces fragmented legacy systems. It works with CST Spark, placing that strategy in a segment where customer relationships are often built over long periods and where service changes can affect both advisers and families.

Amar Ahluwalia, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of OneVest, said the work was designed to balance digital systems with personal contact.

"CST has spent 65 years earning families' trust as they save for their children's education. Our job was to give the CST team a platform that matches that responsibility, one that makes onboarding and account opening more intuitive for CST Spark's mutual fund representatives and the families they serve, reducing administrative burden while strengthening the personal relationships that are central to the CST experience. This partnership shows how our wealth operating system helps financial institutions modernize without compromising the relationships they've built over decades," said Ahluwalia.