Proof technology to connect everyone in the UK with all their pensions in one place can be built
The cross-industry project to design a prototype system, which should one day allow people to see all of their pension savings and entitlements in an online place of their choosing, has been delivered on time and demonstrated to Government Ministers.
The Pensions Dashboard prototype project, managed by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) on behalf of HM Treasury, has co-ordinated the efforts of around 80 people from seventeen pension firms and six technology companies, with input from Government, regulators and independent industry experts.
Together they have designed and developed the behind-the-scenes technology which could eventually allow people to find all of the pension savings belonging to them among over 60 million different pension pots, administered by thousands of different schemes and pension providers, along with the State Pension.
The Government’s objective is for the service to be available to consumers by 2019, and for it to be offered by a range of different providers rather than by a single, central service.
Yvonne Braun, ABI Director of Long-term Savings and Protection Policy, said:
“It sounds obvious that in 2017 everyone should have easy online access to all their pension information in one single place of their choice – yet the practicalities of making that happen are very complex. The prototype demonstrates once and for all that the technological hurdles can be overcome.
“Giving people access to clear information about all their pensions has the potential to revolutionise how they think about saving for their retirement. Now we must ensure industry, Government and regulators continue this close collaboration so the excellent work done so far can be developed into a valuable service the public can use by the Government’s target of 2019.”
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby, said:
“Pensions dashboards will allow consumers to more easily see all their pension information in one place for the first time and I’m delighted with the prototype system the industry has created.
“Harnessing the power of technology to give people easier access to their information will help them be more informed when planning their retirement – one of the most important financial decisions in a person’s life.
“I look forward to unveiling the prototype to the public for the first time at Britain’s FinTech week on 12th April.”
Minister for Pensions, Richard Harrington, said:
“This project has enormous potential to help people keep track of their pensions and make the most of their hard earned savings, and I believe will be a transformational tool in providing the necessary information to people throughout their working lives to plan their retirement”.
As part of FinTech Week, HM Treasury is hosting a TechSprint event on April 12th and 13th in conjunction with the ABI and Aviva. Developers and pension experts from over 20 leading technology firms will compete over 24 hours to develop and show-off examples of the potential applications the prototype dashboard system can unlock for consumers.The firms which have contributed to the prototype project and collaborated on its work include some not in ABI Membership. The full list is:
Abbey Life (now part of Phoenix)
Aon
Aviva
Fidelity International
HSBC
Legal & General
Lloyds Banking Group (Scottish Widows)
LV=
NEST
NOW: Pensions
Phoenix
Prudential
Royal London
Standard Life
The People’s Pension (B&CE)
Willis Towers Watson
Zurich
And providing the technological resources to develop the prototype:
Aquila Heywood
Experian
ITM
Origo
Runpath
Safran
The Department for Work and Pensions also provided resources to enable the State Pension to be incorporated in dashboards in the future.
There's a Q&A with more information about the Pensions Dashboard and how it will work that can be found here.
Notes for Editors
1. Enquiries to:
Malcolm Tarling 020 7216 7410 Mobile: 07776 147667
Lauren Gow 020 7216 7327 Mobile: 07889 641702
Sarah Cordey 020 7216 7375 Mobile: 07860 189071
2. The Association of British Insurers is the leading trade association for insurers and providers of long term savings. Our 250 members include most household names and specialist providers who contribute £12bn in taxes and manage investments of £1.6 trillion.
3. An ISDN line is available for broadcast
4. More news and information from the ABI is available on our web site, www.abi.org.uk.