Plans for the rollout of pensions dashboards that will help employees find and assess their pension pots have been revised.
Pension minister Emma Reynolds confirmed that the government-backed pensions dashboard will launch before private sector dashboards, adding that it was still “too early” to confirm a launch date.
Reynolds reiterated the government’s commitment to helping people realise the benefits of using a pensions dashboard “at the earliest opportunity”.
Formal reset
“The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP), which is part of the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), recently concluded a formal reset process which generated a revised delivery plan. In line with that plan, PDP has begun testing the connection journey with a small number of external organisations which will help facilitate wider industry connections,” Reynolds said.
The minister said she has told PDP to focus efforts on the connection and launch of the MoneyHelper dashboard service (provided by MaPS), before working to connect commercial dashboard services.
“The government supports the principle of enabling multiple commercial pensions dashboard services, which will provide savers with greater choice to access their pensions information from organisations they are familiar with, promoting greater engagement with pensions.
“However, in the interests of ensuring consumers have the best experience on dashboards, it is prudent to allow a period while only the MoneyHelper dashboard is operational. Prioritising the launch of the government-backed dashboard in this way will provide an opportunity to obtain better insights into customer behaviour and ensure greater confidence in operational delivery, security, and consumer protection before facilitating the connection of commercial dashboards.”
Connection deadline
She said the government was committed to the existing published timetable for the connection of pension schemes and providers to the pensions dashboards ecosystem, which is expected to begin in April 2025, as well as the overall connection deadline of 31 October 2026.
Gail Izat, managing director for Workplace Pensions at Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, said: “The decision to have the MaPS dashboard launch before their private sector equivalents could be a good thing for the ecosystem if they are able to provide a live testing environment as quickly as possible. As MAPs does not need to seek regulatory permission, this could create valuable insights that will help the transition to a multi-dashboard environment run smoothly once the regulatory environment is clarified by the FCA.”
Izat said that the experience of dashboard rollouts in other countries showed that it is hard to predict exactly how they will be used until live data is available.
She said that having multiple dashboards available improves the chances of mass adoption. For example, people will engage with a dashboard in the places they go to view their pensions.
“The customer journeys and information that are provided around the dashboards are almost as important as the data itself so provider dashboards are vital to encourage innovation in this space too.”
Pension engagement
Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, said: “Pension dashboards will have the power to dramatically improve pension engagement. They will give people an overall picture of their pension savings, letting them know how much they have saved so far, where it is, and, importantly, how to add to it and how to get hold of it.
“It’s therefore reassuring the government is maintaining its commitment to such an important project, especially when the public finance purse strings are so constrained. We need to keep up the momentum to develop dashboards and drive this initiative to delivery.”
Vahey said that dashboards need to cover most pension schemes, work efficiently, and be easy to use.
“Obviously, PDP should concentrate on getting all these elements right. But there is simply no point building dashboards if no-one is going to use them.
“Restricting the dashboards to a single one – the government’s own version – means not as many people will be aware of the dashboard or use it, potentially missing out on the opportunity to trace lost pension schemes, but also to put their pension savings back on track.
“A ‘soft’ launch could make sense, whilst dashboards are tested to ensure they are working as expected. But for dashboards to be a success it’s essential that commercial dashboards are launched as soon as possible, allowing them to play their role in making sure pension savers are aware of them and use them.”
Derisking dashboards
Nigel Peaple, chief policy counsel at the PLSA, said: “Pensions dashboards have the potential to radically increase people’s understanding of how much income they can expect to receive from the state pension and their workplace pensions. The statement today by the minister for pensions confirms the new government’s commitment to this programme. The decision to first connect the government-run Money Helper dashboard before extending the initiative to private sector pensions dashboards provides a sensible way of derisking the project for government, schemes and savers.
“It’s also positive that today’s statement notes the new approach will ensure more opportunities for the PDP to undertake consumer testing and that it will engage with potential commercial dashboard providers very soon.”
