Customers who are registered with Aviva’s online portal and app are now able to ask Amazon’s Alexa how much they have saved towards their retirement.
Clients registered on MyAviva can link a new skill to their Alexa account and ask the voice assistant to tell them the value of their pension pot.
The pension provider isn’t the first one to offer this feature, since master trust Smart Pension introduced a similar service in February, which allows members to ask several questions about their savings, and make changes to their pension contributions.
According to Blair Turnbull, managing director of UK & international digital at Aviva, the provider’s new skill has the potential to transform the way people connect with their pension.
He said: "Increasing people’s interest in pension saving will only happen if we make it easy for them to check on their progress.
"The Aviva Alexa skill and our MyAviva app can really help people take control of their retirement planning."
According to research conducted in February among 2,010 employed adults, a third (34 per cent) of individuals check their pensions annually, while one in five (21 per cent) do so less often.
However, on the other hand, Aviva found some people showed above-average interest in their pension savings, with 1 in 20 (6 per cent) of the respondents saying they checked their pension balance on a daily basis.
When asked what would make them more engaged with their pensions, having easier access to pension balances, such as via a mobile app, was the second most popular answer (33 per cent).
Only better education about how pensions work ranked higher (36 per cent), the provider said.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
