How do you connect to pensions dashboards?

Heywood Pension Tech

Mar 26, 2023 5:00:00 AM

When Pensions Dashboards arrive, how will you ensure you connect to the Pensions Dashboard eco-system, and crucially, how will you stay connected? In the article, we outline the key steps you can take to ensure once you're connected, you're always connected.

Pensions dashboards are almost here, and when pensions schemes and providers are connected, members will have the ability to access and view all their pensions information in one place via a secure online portal.

Pensions Dashboards will make it easier for savers to see their savings (from both private and state pensions plans) and reconnect individuals with lost pension pots, helping members use this information to plan financially.

It’s therefore crucial that in your preparations for connecting to pensions dashboards, you understand all the requirements that will allow you to connect and successfully share pension information with members.

When do you have to connect to pensions dashboards?

When connecting to pensions dashboards? It depends! All schemes will connect by 31 October 2026, but exact dates vary based on size and type. Watch for staging updates this autumn, and your scheme will then give you at least six months' notice before your turn.

Data quality is crucial to pensions dashboards success. Ask yourself, is your member data up to date and accurate?

Connecting to pensions dashboards with poor quality data could lead to an influx of calls, letters or emails from disgruntled members seeking to locate their pensions on the dashboards. Obviously, this could cause many administrative headaches – effectively contradicting the purpose of the PDP.

Now is the time to focus on the health of your data and updating members records. Inaccurate details being displayed or worse, a mismatch resulting in pension details being displayed to the wrong member can result in a data breach which could have wider ramifications from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you want to understand more about the data regulations for dashboards, you can do so here: Pensions Dashboards Draft Regulations and Data Standards

Still handling paper records? You’ll need to digitise those…

Any data that is held off-system that is relevant to pensions dashboards needs to be digitised so that it can be accessed by the dashboards eco-system.

How will you match members?

Schemes need to determine which fields they will use for member matching when they receive a “Find” request. You’ll have to consider all data items from surname, forename(s), National Insurance number and date of birth, to address, mobile number and email, helping complete data profiles to generate the most accurate matches between dashboards and their Pensions Administration System.

Maintain the integrity of your own systems

Any “Find” requests will be sent out to all data providers for any user that logs in to the pensions dashboards – meaning you’ll get Find requests from all users, not just those who are members of your scheme. These requests need to be handled and responded to, without impacting on the integrity and performance of your own systems.

Did you know that when you’re connected to the dashboards ecosystem, your systems will have to be able to cope with 15m Find Requests a year? That is a lot!

A secure ISP that connects you to pensions dashboards

Pensions schemes will need to connect administration platforms to the Pensions Dashboards eco-system. An Integrated Service Provider (ISP) will do this for you. A secure, encrypted ISP will regularly refresh data and manage the traffic to and from your pension administration platform and Pensions Dashboards, ensuring you comply with legislation and keep your data connected seamlessly.

Learn more about Heywood's Pensions Dashboards ISP

Connecting to pensions dashboards is just the start…

Being 'Dashboard ready' goes beyond connecting by your staging date – once you’re ‘on’, you’re always ‘on’. As well as ensuring your data is Dashboards-ready, you’ll need to develop an ongoing audit and validation plan in place to ensure that good quality data is always being passed to members through the Dashboard.

The best time to start preparing for connecting to pensions Dashboards is today. For more resources relating to Pensions Dashboards, visit our Dashboards Hub.