The Minister for Pensions, Emma Reynolds MP, recently reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to delivering pensions dashboards in a written statement to parliament.
The statement outlined:
The Pensions Dashboard Programme’s (PDP) forward momentum and increased confidence in its ability to deliver against its existing timetable
That the Government’s MoneyHelper pensions dashboard will be available to the public before commercial dashboards are launched
That launching the MoneyHelper dashboard first will give insights into consumer behaviour and usage to facilitate the launch of commercial dashboards
What the Ministerial Statement means for Commercial Dashboards
Encouragingly, the statement reiterated the Government’s support for multiple pensions dashboards, confirming that commercial dashboards will be a reality. Paving the way via the Government's MoneyHelper dashboard in the first instance adds certainty to the implementation of multiple dashboards, and to the fact that forward-thinking providers should have plans to launch their own dashboard underway.
Why are commercial dashboards so important?
The aim of pensions dashboards is to help millions of everyday consumers engage with their retirement savings and achieve a healthier financial future. The MoneyHelper dashboard is a great first step, but commercial dashboards are where we will see the majority of engagement.
In Norway, for example, where dashboards have been live for a decade, a whopping 95% of requests are made via commercial pensions dashboards - just 5% via the Government service.
With almost 40% of UK adults not saving enough to be on track to afford the minimum level of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) Retirement Living Standards, dashboards can’t come soon enough, to bring visibility to inadequacy in the UK.
What is Moneyhub doing?
PDP has said it is “working on a pathway for the implementation of commercial dashboards, working closely with potential dashboard providers, the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboards team, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and regulators”.
As a founding member of the Pensions Dashboard Operators Coalition (PDOC) which represents 14 potential commercial dashboard firms, Moneyhub is at the centre of this implementation planning work with the Government. Other forward thinking firms also have the chance to influence this by working with PDOC and joining leading providers like Aviva Legal & General, Mercer, Standard Life and Scottish Widows.
As a business, we are leading the way in dashboard development - already building our own commercial dashboard and undergoing thorough consumer testing. Firms like Legal & General and Standard Life have chosen to take advantage of our progress and partner with us to deliver their own dashboards.
Our three-phased approach takes you from preparing to submit your FCA Variation of Permissions and configuring initial Post View Services through to connecting to the Central Digital Architecture, technical deployment and executing your take-to-market plan.
We have already appointed RSM as our QPDS auditor and are looking forward to working closely with them as we explore the complexities of the technical breadth of the standards, and equip our partners with as much knowledge of the process as possible.
We’ll also be supporting the team at MoneyHelper to help them successfully pass their own 14 point ‘audit’ (i.e. the CDDO SSA*) to get them up and running
* This is the beta Service Standard Assessment (SSA) carried out by the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) for all Government online services before they can be launched. There are 14 points in the Service Standard against which CDDO assesses services. The MoneyHelper alpha SSA report, from July 2024, is here.
It’s very clear that consumers want to see their pensions together on apps from brands they trust, and those that can add additional value on top, which helps them make better long term financial decisions. It is essential for all that people start saving into pensions as soon as they can and enjoy the accumulation and ultimate decumulation of their long term savings. We are excited to be working closely with industry and regulators to get this technology into the hands of everyday savers as soon as possible.