Pensions dashboards will transform savers’ engagement with their retirement savings. Department of Work and Pensions data shows 8 in 10 savers want to use one, but new figures from TPR show scheme data still needs work. With the legislative deadline fast approaching, the pensions industry must ensure it is ready, and that high quality data enables savers to reap the benefits of dashboards.
Better, more accurate data sits at the heart of an enhanced pension system and is absolutely fundamental to the success of the Pensions Dashboards programme. Done well, data can become a pension superpower.
However, many schemes have underinvested in their data to now, resulting in a ‘data debt’ – the build-up of data quality issues over time – and these schemes are at real risk of letting savers down.
Strong progress
In the last few months, we’ve seen all our collective work on dashboards start to pay off. Schemes and providers have connected millions of records to the central digital architecture being built by MaPS.
We’ve published new research which shows that 80% of schemes are on track to connect to the central digital architecture by or before their ‘connect-by date’ in DWP guidance. This is a major achievement.
But connection is not enough. The success of dashboards depends on quality data: both the personal data schemes need to use to find savers in their records, and the value data they will need to return, often instantly. Without quality data, saver outcomes could suffer.
Getting your data house in order
Half of the schemes we surveyed know what data they will use to find savers, and a similar proportion were very confident in the quality of this data. But many schemes still need to deliver their data improvement plans.
Trustees and scheme managers need to make sure they are taking the steps set out in our dashboards guidance and checklist. They should work with their administrators, and their AVC providers where they have them, to make sure their data is dashboards ready.
There is still a lot of work to do on making sure data about the value of a saver’s pension is available digitally and is recent. One in four schemes holds some data in non-digital form, and only half of the schemes offering DB benefits had recent DB value data for all members.
Since October, we’ve targeted schemes based on data scores reported to us in scheme returns, to ask how they are reviewing their data and putting improvement plans in place. And in the coming months, we will meet with the largest schemes in the country and scrutinise their preparations for dashboards, and we will launch a campaign targeting the hundreds of medium-sized schemes due to connect to dashboards in 2026, to make sure that they are on track to provide data.
Unlocking your data superpower
Savers must first and foremost be protected from making bad decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate information on pensions dashboards caused by schemes’ data debt.
More widely however trustees need to change their mindset – and appropriately focus on and invest in their data. We expect trustees to involve administrators in strategic discussions, look at synergies between data projects, and explore what new technologies can do for them to improve data quality.
Tackling data debt will yield much wider benefits for schemes than just complying with dashboard duties. Good data reduces complaints, enables automation, and is necessary to achieve strategic ambitions, such as end game strategies. Good data supports better and more personalised help and services, improved efficiency, and better decision-making. Good data is a superpower.
The pensions industry has come a long way on data in the last few years.
Now is not the time to slow down. Let’s tackle the data debt once and for all and unlock the superpower of data.
