[SPONSORED ARTICLE]
It’s clear that how we use digital services is changing. While master trusts focus on engaging members and employers in new ways, there’s still a noticeable gap between pension apps and those from major global technology companies.
Pensions have traditionally been seen as long-term propositions measured in decades, not days, yet our daily experience of the apps is quick, frequent ‘micro-interactions’ – whether it’s checking a message, a social feed, or a bank balance.
And here lies the conflict – a unique challenge for engagement. This means as an industry we need to rethink how we can connect more meaningfully with users, working out how we present and support long-term savings in a digital-first world.
Users now expect hyper-personalisation from all their apps, influenced by streaming and dating platforms that let them filter by everything from age to star sign or even clothing choices. As a result, they want their financial services apps to feel just as tailored and relevant to their individual needs.
If providers continue to compare their ‘app prowess’ within the confines of the industry or indeed wider financial environment, then we’re doing our members a disservice. Members don’t think in sectors, they think in seconds. Clunky apps feel wrong, regardless of whether it’s for pensions, banking, food delivery or gaming. Slow equals second, and we all want to be first.
So how do I secure that coveted first place for Standard Life and our members? It may sound simple but imagine doing the basics right and so minimising user frustration. Our app scores highly because it’s fully functional – it’s not a stripped-down version of the desktop site. That kind of parity matters – users expect a seamless, native experience on their device, and being pushed out to a browser just doesn’t meet that standard anymore.
Underpinning any experience is clarity and control. To keep a member engaged, they must be able to immediately see how much their plan is worth, how it’s been performing and the contribution split with their employer, while also getting a sense of what their retirement might look like. They also expect to be a couple of clicks from standard admin tasks such as updating personal details – anything more is counterproductive – they become disengaged, not engaged. It’s not just about functionality, it’s about meeting expectations shaped by the best of digital.
So what’s holding us back? Design complexity is the most common stumbling block and it tends to impact the first interaction – digital sign-in. If the process feels slow or confusing, users disengage before they’ve even begun. No one wants their senses overwhelmed, yet this is often how it feels as dashboards and landing pages try to show all at once. This makes it hard for users to find what really matters as nothing is prioritised. A big no-no in the eyes of users is apps that don’t feel native to their device – just like ill-fitting clothes, unlikely to be tried again.
To counter this, we focus on accessibility and inclusion from the outset because we know from industry research – like the Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index – that 52 per cent of working-age adults struggle to complete all 20 tasks in the Essential Digital Skills framework. That’s a clear signal that digital experiences must be intuitive, inclusive, and easy to access
for everyone.
The pensions industry has always had to evolve, whether through regulatory, legislative or socio-economic factors, and on the digital front the progress is real – delivering tangible results particularly in the use of clean, consistent design systems and thoughtful gamification to help users engage more intuitively.
But what does this look like for members? Simply put, pension apps are evolving from balance checkers to being trusted digital coaches.Central to this is the ability to personalise the interaction, securing more meaningful engagement through open finance and AI to deliver smarter, more tailored guidance. But that must be done with transparency and control firmly in the hands of the member.
However, the pension app can’t sit in digital isolation, and its sophistication must evolve further to become more integrated into the wider digital ecosystems people use every day. Whether it’s syncing with mobile wallets or connecting through social platforms, the future lies in meeting people where they are – making pensions part of their broader financial lives, not separate from them.
After all, why shouldn’t I be able to say: “Hey Siri, how’s my pension doing?
