Blog: A survey by provider B&CE has shown most pension savers support the introduction of a 'pensions dashboard' and comes a day after the FCA announced it would work with the government on developing such a platform.
A pensions dashboard is an online platform allowing members to view all their pension benefits in one place. The concept is based on a system already in place in the Netherlands.
Earlier this month, pensions minister Steve Webb called for the implementation of a dashboard system within two years.
However, some experts claimed the lack of technological sophistication among some schemes and complexity of aggregating members numerous pots in one place as an obstacle.
A pensions dashboard is an online platform allowing members to view all their pension benefits in one place. The concept is based on a system already in place in the Netherlands.
Earlier this month, pensions minister Steve Webb called for the implementation of a dashboard system within two years.
However, some experts claimed the lack of technological sophistication among some schemes and complexity of aggregating members numerous pots in one place as an obstacle.
B&CE's head of policy Darren Philp has appeared in numerous media outlets calling for the introduction of a dashboard. Other figures have also been pushing for it, including mastertrust Now Pensions' Morten Nilsson and Age UK.
It appears their calls have been answered, as the FCA released the final report on its retirement income market study yesterday, which included the following:
Source: FCA
The B&CE survey questioned 1,370 people aged 65 and under to assess their knowledge of pension savings and level of interest in a dashboard.
Strong interest among younger people...
Interest among those surveyed was high, with 75 per cent of men and 80 per cent of women interested in a dashboard. Interest was consistently high across all age groups, but peaked among 25-34 year olds.
Source: B&CE
When it came to the type of dashboard the highest levels of interest were for one only showing pension scheme information, compared with others that incorporated bank accounts and other financial information – but only just.
One possible explanation is contained in the report; 96 per cent of respondents said they check their bank account at least once a month, with 76 per cent checking at least once a week.
In contrast, only a quarter of respondents had never checked their pension savings and 40 per cent check less than once every six months.
This could indicate the need for a platform to monitor pension savings, whereas adding bank account information on top could be seen as superfluous.
What would the impact be on schemes?…
Respondents were divided on who should be responsible for the websites if and when they are launched.
In any case, the work needed to provide data for aggregation would likely create extra work for schemes, but only around one in five believe pension providers should be primarily responsible.
