FCA opens dashboard consultation for comment
The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on regulatory guidance for pension dashboard operators.
The proposals include a new requirement for dashboards to offer users choices of next steps after viewing their pensions data, and ensure appropriate warnings are given when these actions take them away from the regulated dashboard area.
The consultation also proposes changes to data rules to create a “single, consistent route” for users to share information held by dashboards with regulated investment advisers.
The FCA said these changes were designed to “put the consumer in control of the steps they take in and beyond their dashboard journey” and “reduce the risk of a consumer being biased towards a particular action by a [dashboard] firms’ design and operation”.
The proposals follow the Department for Work and Pensions’ confirmation of the timeline for schemes to connect to the dashboard infrastructure. The first connection deadlines are later this year for the state pension and the largest schemes.
The FCA said the proposed guidance – to be added to its existing Perimeter Guidance Manual – was “designed to help firms understand the scope of this new regulated activity” of operating a dashboard, and when they will be required to seek clearance.
The new consultation builds on previous work carried out by the FCA in 2022.
The deadline for input is 8 May 2024.
Paul Waters, head of defined contribution (DC) markets at Hymans Robertson, said: “Pension dashboards are long overdue and a means to helping millions of people get a better picture of their retirement savings.
“To deliver the best customer outcomes we need to answer the ‘so what?’ for people when they see their data. The industry has all the tools to do this and create simple and compelling onward customer journeys to inform and guide people.
“We risk losing the benefit of this from an overly prescriptive and restrictive approach to managing customers through the dashboard journey and post-view services. The Consumer Duty framework already protects customers and should be enforced robustly.
“Providers must be able to deliver the most comprehensive customer engagement and support model for dashboard customers if we are to leverage the full value from dashboards and help address the DC adequacy challenge.”