Dashboard providers team up for industry body

Four potential providers of pension dashboards have formed an industry organisation to support the ongoing development of the project.

Just Group, Legal & General, Moneyhub and Standard Life have established the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC), which is designed to support collaboration on dashboard-related issues such as connectivity, data and user feedback.

The coalition is led by Richard Smith, an independent consultant who was instrumental in developing data standards for the Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP). He is the DOC’s first chair.

Smith said his research into similar dashboard projects in other countries had highlighted cross-industry collaboration as essential to the success of what is “a highly challenging endeavour”.

“We know from research reports that consumers desperately want to use commercial pensions dashboards, on apps they already use and trust, such as their banking or pension app,” Smith said. “And they want to do this as soon as possible.

“So I’m very grateful to the first four firms for taking the lead with this new coalition. I hope other firms will see the benefits of joining the coalition too, as they decide to offer their own dashboards.”

The group is actively seeking more members as it seeks to launch commercial dashboards as soon as possible.

Chris Curry, principal for the Pensions Dashboards Programme at the Money & Pensions Service, said: “The theme running throughout the delivery of pensions dashboards is that we’ll make a success of them by working together.

“The Pensions Dashboards Programme welcomes initiatives that foster greater collaboration between industry, regulators and government. The development of dashboards will be a crucial step to giving people the tools to enhance engagement with their pensions, and we’ll continue to work closely with all organisations looking to become dashboard providers.”

Critical collaboration concerns
In a statement, the coalition said its primary aims were to “support the safe, secure and successful early launch of multiple pensions dashboards, help ensure dashboards meet different users’ needs effectively at launch, and provide rich consumer feedback to inform future iterative dashboards enhancements”.

The launch of the DOC comes after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made operating a pension dashboard service a new regulated activity.

The coalition said there remained some “critical topics” within the dashboard development process that had yet to be properly addressed.

These included an agreed audit standard to ensure dashboards adhere the standards set by the Pensions Dashboard Programme and that they deliver “a consistent consumer experience”.

Other key issues included optimising identity and consent services, making consumers aware of new dashboards, and ensuring that providers and regulators can gather “rich and varied consumer feedback” to help with the ongoing refinement and improvement of dashboards.

What the participants say
Moneyhub chief executive officer Sam Seaton said: “International evidence strongly shows that consumers prefer to see all their pensions in a familiar, trusted app they already use, such as a banking, pension, or money management app.

“Through Open Finance, these apps also enable connections to users’ other finances, showing consumers the broader context of their financial position as it develops over their lifetime.

“So, as an industry, we urgently need to collaborate to launch commercial pensions dashboards for consumers as soon as possible. Working with the FCA and PDP, the Dashboard Operators Coalition will be instrumental in bringing an open and collaborative environment to commercial pensions dashboards, and in doing so, help millions of consumers achieve a healthier financial future.”

David Cooper, marketing and distribution director at Just Group and CEO of Hub Group, said dashboards were “a critical building block to help consumers engage with their retirement savings”.

“Through the Dashboard Operators Coalition we aim to accelerate learnings and insights capture across the industry so that commercial dashboards meet customer needs and fulfil their incredible potential,” he said.

Gail Izat, workplace pensions managing director at Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, said dashboards represented “a once in a generation chance to move the dial on pensions engagement, so it is crucial that government and industry get it right”.

Katharine Photiou, Legal & General’s managing director of workplace savings, said: “As one of the first providers to test the technology and the processes needed to establish the foundations of a dashboards ecosystem, we have remained committed to dashboards’ potential to help people stay connected with their pots and take stock of their overall savings.

“As an industry, we need to come together to make sure that the introduction of dashboards really shifts the dial on how people plan and prepare for retirement. We will put the full weight of our experience behind the efforts of the DOC to help make pensions dashboards a success from day one.”