Power to the people

by Graeme Riddoch   •  
Blog

There’s a lot of noise around Pensions Dashboards at the moment. It’s a laudable initiative, designed to empower people by delivering a single view of all qualifying pensions.

In one camp, we have the Government determined to drag what they see as a recalcitrant industry into delivering. In the other, we have an industry that is largely hidebound with legacy systems and poor quality data, struggling to deliver to the requirements.

What of the consumer? Well the Money and Pensions Service (MaPs) undertook primary research and uncovered an appetite for consumers to get more connected with their pensions, especially those in the 45 to 65 age group. The concept of Dashboards played well.

It’s often the case, however, that if you put services online then people may expect more than you can deliver. The point of comparison for consumers isn’t a paper based statement that has taken two weeks to hit their doorstep, but what they can do on a banking website. Dashboards will be a big step forward for many pension savers, but it will most certainly raise their expectations.

Depending on your point of view, Dashboards are either a bridge too far or not far enough. As envisaged, they will help people find pensions they may have lost sight of and return an estimated retirement pension at normal retirement date. Many providers are struggling with the latter requirement, especially defined benefit schemes. The Government see this as the minimum requirement

From a consumer perspective, they don’t really get or care that their scheme may be running on a system that isn’t up to the job. There is a risk of disappointing consumer expectations and switching people off - even more than they already are.

Our platform, Mantle, is a modern solution that automates 100% of benefit calculations, which means it is ideally suited to meet and exceed the Dashboards requirements. Mantle can actually serve up all benefits from 55 to 75, including cash lump sum, minimum to maximum and all points in between, via our smartphone app, My Pocket Pension.

Now that’s real power to the people!

Click below to read our other Pensions Dashboards blogs:

Further reading

Is your DB scheme an asset rather than a liability?

Blog
by Alistair Russell-Smith   •  

2024 Charity Defined Benefit Pensions Benchmarking Report

Blog
by Alistair Russell-Smith   •  

Spring Budget 2024 – What does it mean for pensions?

Blog
by Angela Burns   •  

More Insights?