Pension dashboards are steadily moving towards public rollout, with over 50 million scheme memberships now connected to the central digital architecture.
Speaking at the Corporate Adviser summit, Pensions Dashboard Programme principal Chris Curry confirmed the programme is on track and highlighted the milestones achieved so far.
He said: “Back at the start of April this year, schemes started connecting to the central digital architecture of the pensions dashboards programme. That was a major milestone. We’ve been testing with our providers for nearly 12 months to get that connection working.”
Curry said the numbers are expected to rise further, with “80 million scheme memberships from public and private sector schemes…connected by the end of October 2026, alongside the state pension, which adds tens of millions more records.”
He explained the rollout strategy, noting the focus on larger schemes first. Curry said: “You notice there’s a bit of disconnect in terms of the proportion of memberships versus the proportion of schemes. That’s because we’re connecting the biggest schemes first, which allows more people to find more pensions earlier.”
He added that 18 of the original 19 organisations have completed the most technical part of the process, testing data flow and security, while the three new organisations are approaching that stage.
Meanwhile, consumer testing is underway, with Curry noting the dashboard must be secure and have enough connected memberships, as well as show how users interact with their pensions.
Curry highlighted that industry readiness remains key, noting that as people engage with the dashboards, they are likely to ask questions about their pensions, most often turning to their providers. He added: “We need to make sure providers are geared up to answer those questions.”
He also flagged the wider landscape of pensions dashboards, stressing that the MoneyHelper dashboard is just the first step. Curry explained: “Eventually, there will be more than one pensions dashboard. If we concentrate on launching one first, we’re likely to get there sooner than if we were trying to launch multiple dashboards.”
Curry underlined the central role of accurate data in the programme’s success, urging schemes to ensure records are up to date and values calculated correctly.
He added: “Data is the key for pensions dashboards. There’s lots of help out there from TPR, FCA, and the pensions dashboards programme itself.”