The Pensions Dashboards Programme has partnered with three commercial dashboard providers with which to work during its initial testing phase.
The PDP has selected Aviva, Moneyhub and Bud to work alongside the Money and Pensions Service’s non-commercial dashboard in the initial test phase of the pensions dashboards ecosystem.
The test phase will run for six months from December 2021 and see the chosen providers prepare to connect their dashboards to the central digital architecture.
The three potential providers — an insurer, an open banking platform, and open data fintech company — represent a range of different types of organisation that the PDP expects to see in the future dashboards provider market.
Raman Dhaliwal, head of product at the PDP, said: “We look forward to working closely with Aviva, Bud and Moneyhub, as well as the Maps dashboard team, as we move into our alpha testing phase. We will work with them to develop and refine the standards and systems for pensions dashboards, so that we can provide a dashboards service that benefits consumers.”
Roger Marsden, managing director of retail sales and retirement at Aviva, said the dashboards will be a helpful vehicle in enabling people to handle their money more efficiently.
“Taking individual responsibility for retirement planning is more important than ever. Currently, fewer than one in 10 use the internet to manage their investments, such as pensions, even though it is a perfect vehicle to provide access to a range of suitable tools to help them achieve their retirement goals,” he said.
“Ultimately, it will allow millions of people to monitor and manage their pensions online in one place for the first time.”
Meanwhile the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has published an A-Z guide highlighting 26 key issues that it believes are required to make the dashboards project a success.
While all 26 issues are important, there are seven key areas which the PLSA said require more immediate resolution.
First, PLSA said that comprehensive testing among a wide variety of savers with a diverse background of financial education would be key to helping build a non-biased understanding of how savers will interact with the dashboards.
Second, administration and technology providers will need to be able to connect with the central digital architecture in order to carry out dashboards compliance measures.
It is also essential for all schemes to comply with General Data Protection Regulation measures, PLSA noted.
Furthermore, schemes must understand the liability associated with pensions not found and pension amounts returned.
Schemes need certainty on the pension amount data to be returned after a pension is found across all scheme types.
Schemes must also be aware of their internet service providers’ request response times, and how up to date the returned data is.
The PLSA also identified clarity on the timeline for when schemes need to comply and their onboarding process as key to a smooth operation.
Finally, schemes need to be aware of the principles adopted by The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority for the dashboards compliance regimes.
Nigel Peaple, director of policy and advocacy at the PLSA, said: “Successfully delivering dashboards presents many significant challenges and there is much to be resolved in a short amount of time.
“We know the Department for Work and Pensions, Maps, the PDP and others are busy working on the issues we highlight here. The sooner the pensions industry has clarity on the seven key issues highlighted here, the sooner progress can be made.”
Fatima Benkhaled is an editorial intern at FTAdviser's sister publication Pensions Expert
