The new pensions guidance service has been unveiled as Pension wise by Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrea Leadsom.

Pension Wise: Your money. Your choice, along with the logo will be used by all those involved in providing the online, face-to-face and telephone guidance.

The government’s delivery partners are Citizens Advice (England and Wales), Citizens Advice Scotland and Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and The Pensions Advisory Service.

In order to protect consumers from imitators of the service and ensure the guidance brand is trusted, the government will make the imitation of Pension wise illegal through the Pension Schemes Bill. Anyone seeking to pass themselves off as the service could face prosecution.

In addition, The Financial Conduct Authority is working hard to tackle pension fraud. It has strong powers to prosecute those behind illegal scams and earlier this year launched scam awareness campaign Scamsmart.

Chancellor George Osborne announced there would be free pensions guidance given to people approaching retirement, following the ‘freedom and choice’ pension changes announced in the Budget in March 2014.

As a result of the changes, from April 2015, over 300,000 individuals a year with a DC pension will be able to access them as they wish from when they turn 55.

From today anyone with a DC pension who is approaching retirement and would like the chance to access the service as part of Pension Wise’s piloting activities can register their interest at www.gov.uk/pensionwise.

It is expected that for most consumers the online facility will be the best way of receiving the guidance and may be sufficient to meet people’s needs. However, phone guidance is available through TPAS and a face-to-face session is available through Citizens Advice.

After the appointment, all of Pension wise’s consumers will be provided with a summary document of their session so that they can proceed confidently.

Leadsom commented the government want people to feel “empowered” to make informed and confident choices.

“Pension wise will be a first port of call for people with a DC pension who are approaching retirement. It is a distinctive brand, making it easy for consumers to know where to go for help and guidance,” she added.

Dr Ros Altmann, the government’s business champion for older workers said she welcomes further details on the guidance service. She noted that until now, there has been no help with the complex decisions people face when they reach pension age.

“The service needs to be a strong brand – Pension wise seems a sound choice. It will be important to promote this brand so that people recognise it and have confidence in the quality and value of guidance,” she concluded.

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