Pension dashboards continue to move closer to reality as two major pension providers have connected to the Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP) ecosystem in line with the Department of Work and Pensions timetable.
Aegon confirmed it has connected its largest schemes to the ecosystem, which accounts for around 70 percent of the provider’s policies. Its remaining schemes are set to be connected in the coming months.
Standard Life and its parent body Phoenix Group announced their dashboard connection last week.
Once fully operational, pension dashboards will help savers find lost pensions and enable people to see all the pensions they are yet to collect in one place online. Dashboards will also give savers a projected total retirement income from all their pensions to make it easier for people to see how much they could have in retirement.
Nick Roy, director of workplace pensions at Aegon, said: “We’re excited to have completed this first and significant step. This is a huge achievement, covering an incredible 70 percent of our policies, even at this early point. The success of this stage – given the complexity of the requirements as well as being the first time we have had to test and complete connection – provides the highest level of confidence that further connect by dates will be met for our remaining schemes over the coming months.
“This is a big step forward for the overall dashboard programme and in helping customers to engage with their pensions and make informed decisions based on a more holistic view of their retirement savings.”
Standard Life made its connection with Equisoft, an integrated service provider (ISP), which relays pension policy information to the dashboard ecosystem on behalf of the provider.
The provider said this move is “a major milestone” in work to make dashboards a reality for its customers. It also represents “a stepping stone” towards Standard Life offering a private sector dashboard at a later date.
Connection project lead, Jenny Holt, product director at Standard Life, said: “Connecting such a large book of business covering so many different product types has been a significant undertaking and we’re delighted to have delivered against the project’s timetable. Working with our partners Equisoft and the PDP we’re a step closer to making pension dashboards a reality.”
Gail Izat, managing director for Workplace and Retail Intermediary at Standard Life, said: “Pension dashboards will unlock many benefits for customers as they start to roll out in the coming years. There’s an estimated £31 billion sitting in lost pension pots reflecting the fact that people are increasingly working for multiple employers and losing track of their savings. The ability to see all your pension savings and projected income in one place will, alongside the Small Pots initiative, transform people’s ability to plan ahead for retirement and take control of their financial future.”
