Selecting an ISP Partner for Pensions Dashboards

Written by Heywood Pension Tech | Apr 21, 2023 9:12:00 AM

The key bridge or connection between a pension scheme’s administration platform and pensions dashboards is an Integrated Service Provider (ISP). An ISP partner can offer a range of valuable services to pension schemes and providers as they prepare for a safe, secure, and ongoing connection to pensions dashboards.

As we anticipate the announcement of staging dates in the spring of 2024, it is important to note that the confirmed deadline for connection is October 31st, 2026. This provides ample time for pension schemes and providers to prepare, but proactive action is still crucial.

Note: this article was updated in February 2024.

When dashboards are live, the onus is on pension schemes and providers to ensure that the member data they hold is accurate. Accurate data will mean when savers submit a “Find” request to pensions dashboards, successful matches will be returned, and pension information viewable.

What are the features of an effective pensions dashboards ISP?

Your ISP will securely connect your pension administration platform to the dashboards eco-system

ISPs need to be able to regularly refresh data to manage the traffic to and from your pension administration platform and pensions dashboards, whilst ensuring ongoing compliance with legislation and keeping you seamlessly connected.

How will it work?

When connected to the pensions dashboards eco-system, “Find” requests will be shared and securely validated. Pending a successful match, value data is sent back to pensions dashboards for the member to “View”. View data refers to the data items a pensions provider will need to return to a dashboard if it successfully matches a find request with one or more of its membership records.

Additionally, a good ISP will allow a scheme to select the best Find data items it holds to maximise the number of positive matches. It will provide analytic information back to the scheme on the success rates with those Find data items and identify if a change has improved or worsened its match rate. An ISP with such functionality will also provide information on the presence of the various Find data items. A practical example of this would be if a member hasn't changed address in the last 15 years, as we know the average period for moving is 10 years.

How to choose your ISP partner

Selecting an ISP partner will be the most important aspect of your ongoing connectivity and success with pensions dashboards.

In a literal sense, you can connect to dashboards with any data. But failures in data accuracy could increase the number of maybe matches and lead to an avalanche of members queries to already stretched administration and customer service teams, seeking to check if they have a pension with you. Or result in false positive matches. That’s why most pension schemes are in the process of cleansing their data before their staging date.

It’s a vital element of connecting to dashboards, but not just a one-time fix. Data validation and cleansing should be a continuous exercise and part of a routine data health checks. It might be a misconception within our industry, but achieving and maintaining good data quality does not have to be expensive or hard. Done well, it can be a positive process that delivers good outcomes for all concerned.

Will your ISP constantly review your data and deliver you with reports on its health? As well as this, you’ll need an ongoing plan for updating member records and locating lost members. An ISP that delivers on-demand reporting to Pensions Managers can help you keep on top of member data and its accuracy.

Remember, connecting to pensions dashboards is not a one-time exercise, once you’re connected, you need to stay connected. Data decays year-on-year so it’s vital your ISP supports you.

It's crucial to take proactive action now if you haven't already started preparing for a smooth connection. And if you're already in the early stages of preparation, it's time to step up your efforts. The message is clear: the time is now to ensure a seamless connection to the pensions dashboards, and avoid any potential bottle necks further down the road.

Heywood’s ISP will connect you securely, and keep you compliant

Heywood’s ISP provides our clients with all the elements of a comprehensive dashboards service in one place, helping build long-term data connections with pensions dashboards, not just helping you prepare for your staging date.

To further support our customers, we’ve developed an unmatched service to create value data calculations, revaluing your deferred to pensioner records. Our in-house team of Defined Benefit calculation experts are using our newly acquired low code calcs engine to produce these results for schemes on any platform, with any data structure.

Rest assured that your data is always ready for dashboards with our advanced data tools. They not only help you ensure ongoing compliance for your scheme but also keep your data connected seamlessly.

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