What's new?

The Kota Embed API is now available in public beta, allowing benefits platforms, HR software providers, and payroll tools to embed Kota's benefits infrastructure directly into their own products.

What's available in beta

• REST API for employee enrolment, benefit status, and contribution management
• Webhooks for joiner, leaver, and policy change events
• White-label employee onboarding flow embeddable via iframe or SDK
• Sandbox environment with test data pre-loaded

To apply for beta access or read the API docs, visit kota.io/embed. Feedback can be sent directly to our developer team at developers@kota.io.

HR Dashboard — New Reporting Suite

We've rebuilt the reporting section of the Kota admin dashboard from the ground up, giving HR and finance teams cleaner, more actionable data.

New reports available

• Cost per employee — total monthly employer benefit spend broken down by individual
• Enrolment status report — see at a glance who is and isn't enrolled in each benefit
• Joiner/leaver log — full audit trail of benefit changes triggered by HRIS events
• Contribution history — exportable pension and spend card contribution records by pay period

All reports are exportable as CSV. Scheduled email delivery (weekly or monthly) can be configured under Settings → Reports.

New Risk Products — Critical Illness & Income Protection

Two new risk products are now available through Kota: Critical Illness Cover and Group Income Protection. Both can be added to an existing benefits package directly from the dashboard.

Product details

• Critical Illness Cover: Pays a lump sum to employees diagnosed with a serious illness covered by the policy. Kota handles enrolment, renewals, and claims support.
• Group Income Protection: Replaces a portion of income if an employee is unable to work due to illness or injury. Deferred period and benefit level are configurable per scheme.

Both products are managed from the same Kota dashboard as your health insurance and pension — no new portals, no new logins.

Life Assurance — Get Quotes Online in Minutes

HR teams can now generate life assurance quotes directly inside the Kota dashboard, without needing to speak to a broker first.

How it works

• Enter your headcount, average salary, and desired cover multiple
• Receive quotes from multiple underwriters side by side
• Our benefits team reviews your selection and handles the paperwork
• Employees are enrolled automatically once the policy is active

Kota acts as your FCA-appointed representative throughout — so you get broker-quality advice without the broker fees or delays. Learn more about Life Assurance on Kota.

Payroll Integrations — New Providers Supported

Kota now supports direct payroll integration with four additional providers, making automated contribution reporting available to more customers.

Newly supported payroll platforms

• Deel — automatic pension and benefit deduction reporting for international teams
• Rippling — bi-directional sync for UK and Ireland payrolls
• Brightpay — native integration for Irish payroll customers
• Xero Payroll — contribution data pushed directly into Xero payroll runs

Existing integrations with Gusto, Sage, and Pento remain unchanged. To connect a payroll platform, navigate to Settings → Integrations → Payroll in your Kota dashboard.

Validate Your Benefits Package — Benchmarking Tool Live

We've launched a free Benefits Benchmarking Tool at benchmark.kota.io, giving HR and People teams an instant read on how their benefits package compares to similar companies.

What the tool covers

• Health insurance coverage levels by company size and sector
• Pension contribution rates — employer and employee
• Flexible benefit allowance benchmarks
• Life assurance multiples across industries
• Spend card allowance averages

Results are generated instantly with no signup required. Use the tool before your next renewal cycle to make sure your package is competitive.

Kota Employee App — Redesigned Experience

We've shipped a major redesign of the Kota employee app (iOS & Android), focused on helping employees understand and actually value the benefits their employer provides.

What's new in the app

• New Benefits Summary home screen showing total employer investment per employee
• Clearer health insurance policy details — excess, coverage limits, and how to make a claim
• Pension dashboard with live contribution tracking and projected retirement pot
• Push notifications for policy renewals, contribution changes, and new benefit additions
• Improved onboarding flow for new joiners — takes under 3 minutes to get fully set up

Update your app via the App Store or Google Play to get the new experience.

HRIS Sync — Speed & Reliability Improvements

We've significantly improved the speed and reliability of our HRIS integration layer, reducing the time between an employee being added to your HR system and being enrolled in their benefits.

What changed

• Sync latency reduced from up to 24 hours to under 5 minutes for supported HRIS platforms
• Improved error handling — failed syncs now trigger an in-dashboard alert with a clear resolution path
• New sync log view lets HR admins audit every change pushed from their HRIS
• Support added for BambooHR, Personio, and HiBob webhook-based triggers

These improvements apply automatically — no action is required on your end. If you experience any sync issues, please contact support@kota.io.

Auto-Enrolment Pension — Now Available

Kota now supports the Irish Auto-Enrolment pension scheme, allowing employers to set up an Auto-Enrolment exempt occupational pension in minutes — avoiding the complexity of the state scheme entirely.

Key highlights

• Full setup in under 10 minutes from the Kota dashboard
• Automatic employee enrolment based on eligibility rules
• Contribution calculations and deductions handled automatically
• Payroll integration ensures contribution data flows back without manual intervention
• Employees can view contribution history and projected retirement figures in the app

For guidance on whether an exempt scheme is right for your organisation, our benefits team is available to advise. Learn more about Auto-Enrolment.

Flex Spend Card — Now Live

We're excited to announce the launch of the Kota Flex Spend Card, a new way for employers to issue and manage employee benefit allowances directly on debit cards.

What's new

• Instantly issue virtual and physical cards to employees via the Kota dashboard
• Set automated spending controls by category (e.g. wellness, travel, meals)
• Real-time transaction visibility for finance and HR teams
• Automated payroll reconciliation — no manual data entry required
• Employees can view their card balance and transaction history in the Kota app

The Flex Spend Card is available to all customers on the Growth and Enterprise plans. Contact your account manager to enable it for your organisation.