Workplace pension apps make it difficult for members to increase their pension contributions, despite significant improvements in digital retirement planning and financial wellbeing tools, research from BehindLogin has shown.

The Workplace Pension App Experience Benchmark Report 2026, which assessed 10 leading UK workplace pension apps across 10 core features, found that regular and one-off contributions scored lowest, averaging just 28 and 20 out of 100, respectively.

By comparison, retirement planning and financial wellbeing were the strongest-performing features, achieving average scores of 74 and 72, highlighting a gap between helping members understand their retirement savings and enabling them to take action.

The research found that only three providers offered an in-app journey that lets members make a one-off contribution through to payment, while options to request changes to regular contributions remained limited.

BehindLogin warned that although providers had invested in helping members understand their pension savings, more work was needed to support practical decisions that could improve retirement outcomes.

However, the report found that all 10 providers achieved BehindLogin's 'Meets Expectations' rating, compared with just three in 2025.

Yet, only 16 points separated the highest- and lowest-ranked providers, and none delivered consistently strong experiences across all 10 assessed features.

Scottish Widows was named the best overall workplace pension app, leading in four categories: regular contributions, one-off contributions, viewing and switching funds, and communication preferences.

Legal & General (L&G) ranked second overall, achieving the strongest pension overview experience, while Mercer Money placed third and was named Most Innovative for the second consecutive year.

Standard Life was recognised as Most Engaging for its personalised content and interactive tools, while Cushon received the Best Design award.

Fidelity PlanViewer also finished in the top five, scoring highest for support and contact functionality.

Despite improvements across the market, BehindLogin identified several barriers preventing members from completing pension-related tasks, including browser redirects, repeated authentication, lengthy processes and unnecessary data entry.

It warned that these issues could make it difficult for members to transfer pensions, change investments, or manage everyday account requirements, even when providers offer the necessary functionality.

The report also highlighted the importance of linking retirement planning tools to practical actions, suggesting providers should make it easier for members to understand how higher contributions could affect their future retirement income.

Hawkins Strategic Advisory founder, Jonathan Hawkins, said: "The single best thing a member can do for their retirement is save more, yet it remains one of the hardest things to do in a pension app."

Quietroom CEO, Chloe Taylor, welcomed the progress made by providers but argued that greater integration was needed between digital services and member communications.

Meanwhile, BehindLogin founder and CEO, Oliver Lane, argued that ahead of the release of the pensions dashboard, connected journeys would be "key" in helping people find and understand their savings.

"Seeing every provider improve gives me real confidence in where this market is heading.

"The next opportunity is to make acting on your pension as straightforward as understanding it," he added.

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