Pensions Dashboard - Getting Ready for 15 Million
22 April 2018
Origo has taken a deep dive into understanding the potential number of consumers who will be using the Pensions Dashboard. Their analysis enables them, and the rest of the industry, to ensure that infrastructure and systems are Dashboard ready in 2019.
Origo is the technology partner responsible for delivering the ‘engine’ that will find and retrieve pensions data from various providers. Their role now requires them to build on the foundations to create a strong, cross-industry governance model that can deliver a dashboard.
The infrastructure underpinning the Pensions Dashboard must be built from the outset to support significant volumes of consumers from day one, cope with peaks and troughs in usage and scale to the target of 15 million consumers.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, Guy Opperman, has committed to launching Pensions Dashboard by the end of 2019, a deadline which Origo both supports and believes is achievable. Just this month, the Work and Pensions Select Committee recommended to the government that it implements a single dashboard by April 2019.
One, or multiple dashboards from launch?
Anthony Rafferty, Origo managing director talks about other European countries that have adopted the Single Dashboard approach, and that they are now experiencing external demand for APIs to access consumer pension data from FinTechs – which is also now driving an increase in usage. Reportedly it is still being debated as to whether there is one or multiple dashboards from launch, but regardless, the underlying infrastructure must be flexible enough to cope with future technological requirements.
According to Mr Rafferty, another important aspect is the ability for individuals to delegate access to the new Single Financial Guidance Body for guidance and/or financial advisers. It is estimated that each of us will have around 11 pension pots accrued through our careers until retirement. This means that in order to provide guidance or to give holistic financial advice, comprehensive information is needed on clients’ pension data through a simple, cost-effective and secure online system. Rafferty said:
“Ensuring that we, the industry, are ready and capable to deliver what is required to ensure best outcomes for consumers, is Origo’s ethos. Whether the decision is to start with a single government-backed dashboard, or with multiple dashboards - it is imperative that the underlying infrastructure, the plumbing, be developed with an eye to future demand and requirements, and be maintained in a cost-effective and efficient way that consistently delivers sensitive information securely.
“Engendering and demonstrating trust and reliability to users will determine the success of the Pensions Dashboard.”