The UK pensions industry is approaching a pivotal moment. With the highly anticipated launch of the MoneyHelper dashboard on the horizon, the groundwork is being laid for a new era of pension visibility.

But as the sector prepares for this transformational milestone, a growing chorus of voices is highlighting a critical next step - one that could ensure the long-term success of the entire initiative.

That step is the introduction of private sector dashboards.

As an industry, we need to continue to work with the various policy-makers and delivery partners to ensure pension dashboards can be genuinely engaging for customers to facilitate the best possible outcomes.

Together, we must examine the opportunities and risks of both public and private platforms, the lessons from international markets, and the practical steps needed to bring them to life in the UK.

More than just data aggregation

The introduction of the MoneyHelper dashboard will be revolutionary, for the first time giving people visibility of their entire pensions savings in one place. It’s about more than just data aggregation.

At its core, it’s about reconnecting people with their retirement savings - many of which have been scattered across multiple jobs and providers over the course of a working life. With people pursuing a very wide variety of career paths, and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimating that the average person changing employers approximately eleven times in their lifetime, it’s no surprise how many of those pension pots have gone astray.

But we want to go even further. As well as showing people where their pensions are, we want to do so in a way that fits how they interact with technology and their finances more widely today.

This is where private dashboards come into play. Building on the public platform which will be housed entirely on a website, private dashboards can be embedded into the digital environments consumers already use such as mobile apps, banking platforms, and financial planning tools.

Lessons from abroad

Examples from Europe, where some nations have already launched pension dashboards, demonstrate the benefit of embedding dashboards across various digital environments. In Norway, for example, where both public and private dashboards coexist, private platforms consistently see higher levels of usage.

Consumers gravitate toward services that are intuitive, personalised, and seamlessly integrated into their daily routines. The UK has an opportunity to learn from these models and build a public and private dashboard ecosystem that is not only functional but gives users options to engage with their pension in a way which suits them best.

The industry is prepared. A number of providers have already signalled their intent to launch private dashboards to compliment the government’s MoneyHelper service, representing a significant share of the workplace pensions market.

These firms are not just waiting, they have actively invested in the infrastructure and partnerships needed to deliver high-quality, secure, and compliant services.

But to move forward, they need a clear signal from the government in the form of a timeline that signifies their commitment to private sector dashboards, and to show that these are not just permitted but encouraged.

Providing the tools for action

Once consumers see their pension data, many will want to take the next step: adjusting contributions, consolidating pots, or planning for retirement. But while the government’s MoneyHelper dashboard could help to revolutionise engagement and improve visibility exponentially, users will not be on a service that facilitates those changes.

Private dashboards could make a real difference here. If they are allowed to do so, these platforms are well-positioned to support customer journeys by offering tools and content to help users make informed decisions within a regulated framework, with appropriate safeguards and oversight.

But the timing will be crucial. Some industry players are concerned that without the ability to make changes through post-view services immediately after using a dashboard platform, consumers may turn to unregulated workarounds.

Introducing a well-regulated private dashboard market shortly after the government’s MoneyHelper service can mitigate this risk, as well as offering a safer, more transparent path for the consumer to complete a follow-on journey after seeing their pension savings data for potentially the first time.

What next?

To consider the full picture, we are launching a report, set to be released in the coming weeks, which explores these themes in greater depth.

It examines the challenges and opportunities of both private and public dashboards, while also considering the broader implications for consumer engagement, financial wellbeing, and the future of retirement planning.

The success of the pensions dashboards on the whole will depend not just on what is built, but on how it is delivered.

We are on the precipice of a complete change in how people understand and interact with their pension savings – spearheaded by the incoming MoneyHelper dashboard.

But while a single, centralised dashboard is a promising starting point, it should not be the endgame. To truly reach as many consumers as possible, we need a diverse, competitive, and innovative dashboard ecosystem.

The technology is ready, and the demand is there. All that is left to do is allow the opportunity for the industry to deliver.

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