Aviva, Standard Life and Prudential have been accused by robo-adviser Nutmeg and online pension provider Pension Bee of discriminating against them when transferring clients' pension cash.
Frustration at the length of time traditional life and pension providers are taking to transfer pensions across to new fintech players in the industry has led to both Nutmeg and Pension Bee revealing to FTAdviser how long it is taking three of financial services' biggest names to pass cash to them.
The newer entrants have accused the traditional players of trying to hamper their growth in the market, by taking three times as long to transfer client's cash.
"We are as authorised as they are under the FCA process so there is no reason why they should not be able to transfer easily," Clare Reilly, head of corporate development at Pension Bee, said.
"Obviously we are new, [and] they dislike newcomers to the market."
Since November 2016, Pensions Bee has been the recipient of more than 100 defined contribution transfers from Aviva, Standard Life and Prudential.
Pension Bee claimed on average it was taking Aviva and Standard Life 33 days to transfer defined contribution cash to it, while for Prudential it has taken 30 days.
Nutmeg revealed it has seen average defined contribution transfer times of 20 days for Aviva, 23 days for Standard Life and 48 days from Prudential.
Ms Reilly said the lengthy transfer times were caused by certain providers not using industry standard online processing tool Origo to transfer to their new fintech company.
She cited figures for Origo that showed where providers transfer between each other the average transfer time for Standard Life is 12.2 days and for Prudential 15.7 days.
On its website Origo stated the average transfer times for those who use the service is eight days.
Ms Reilly said that Aviva, Standard Life and Prudential customers wishing to switch to her business are being sent "onerous" forms in the post to fill in before their pensions are transferred to the likes of Pension Bee.
She saw the behaviour as an attempt to delay the growth of newcomers into the pensions market.
She said such behaviour did not bode well for the success of pension dashboards.
"The first thing that consumers are going to want to do when they finally see small pots scattered about is to move them together," she said.
"Right now that process is going to have to take place by Royal Mail for a large number of schemes and take months to complete."
When this claim was put to Aviva, Standard Life and Prudential, spokesmen for all three providers said some pension transfers could take longer than others due to complications relating to legacy products.
A spokesman for Standard Life said: "Standard Life uses the Origo system for all transfers to schemes registered with Origo and have been doing so for many years.
"We perform well in Origo rankings and according to their statistics, the majority of our transfers are completed between eight to 10 days.
"However, we don’t provide blanket approvals to any schemes or scheme administrators. We assess transfer requests on a case-by-case basis, considering individual circumstances and risks, in order to do the right thing by our customers and follow the industry code of practice.
"That means that as well as using the Origo system, we carry out further due diligence where we feel it is necessary, so transfer times can vary. We actively support the Industry Standards Group and its aim of keeping customers safe."
An Aviva spokesman acknowledged the insurer has now started using Origo with Pension Bee and Nutmeg.
The spokesman said: "Aviva aims to complete the majority of transfer requests (when all of the information has been received from the customer and receiving scheme) in five working days.
"We can only measure the time it takes to complete the transfer once all of the documentation has been received from the customer – which can sometimes take a number of weeks if the customer is considering their options.
"We do regularly use Origo for pension transfers, but that is not always the case and some of our older policies are not in scope for Origo options.
"For instance, trust-based pensions may sometimes have additional requirements not supported by Origo, or we may need to seek direct customer confirmation before proceeding. We have started working with Pension Bee and Nutmeg using Origo."
A spokesman for Prudential said: "We work hard to ensure pensions transfers proceed smoothly and follow a robust due diligence process when conducting transfers to ensure that we protect customers’ interests, while meeting all the requirements laid down by HM Revenue & Customs and The Pensions Regulator.
"The more complex a case, the longer it can take to complete a transfer. For example, customers who have safeguarded benefits may also have to take financial advice before a transfer can proceed. These checks mean that it can take several additional weeks to fully process a pension transfer.
"From when we receive the signed and completed paperwork, the average transfer time to Pension Bee is around 12 days. I understand that we haven’t previously made any individual pension transfers to Nutmeg, although we have one in progress at the moment."
Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, is chairing an industry task force aimed at improving transfer times ahead of the launch of the pension dashboard.
He said: "There is a fairly robust industry initiative in train at the moment to improve transfer times. This encompasses the Association Of British Insurers (ABI), the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), Tax Incentivised Savings Association, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) and the involvement and the sanctioned support of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP).
"It looks at every stage in the chain, looking at where are the weak points and where quick wins can be achieved.
"Given Pension Bee's interest in improving transfers, I hope they will make a significant contribution to the industry's collective endeavour to improve outcomes for investors."
david.rowley@ft.com
