Schemes urged to track dashboard effects on members
The Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) has issued new guidance to aid schemes and administrators in tracking changes in member behavior following the introduction of pensions dashboards. The ‘Dashboards Toolkit: Post Use Behaviour’ was developed with input from The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and aims to help trustees, scheme managers, and administrators understand the wider operational and behavioral impact of dashboards once they’re accessible to members.
Monitoring Member Behavior
The toolkit suggests various reporting measures, including completed transfer payments and retirement settlements, member enquiries, and potential scams. PASA emphasizes that these measures are not intended to create new reporting standards, and administrators should use existing reports where possible.
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Potential Impact on Schemes
An increase in completed transfer payments could indicate a change in member behavior and, in some cases, greater scam risk. Higher transfer quotation volumes might suggest that dashboards are prompting members to engage with deferred or previously forgotten pensions. For defined benefit (DB) schemes, changes in transfer and retirement settlement volumes could also have funding and cashflow implications.
PASA suggests tracking additional details, such as whether transfer requests were initiated or responded to online, the average transfer value, and whether the member had previously been considered ‘lost’. Similar monitoring is recommended for retirement activity, including whether members engaged with guidance, support, or advice before settling their benefits.
Other transactions, such as investment fund switches, increases in contributions, and updates to personal details, as well as changes in the volume and nature of member enquiries, should also be monitored. Where possible, administrators should identify why members are making contact.
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Vulnerable members and potential fraud are highlighted as areas for monitoring. PASA argues that red-flag transfer cases could be reported separately to provide greater insight into whether members are being exposed to increased scam risk.
Industry Response
PASA chair, David Fairs, noted that dashboards would be a “major step forward” in helping members engage with their pensions but stressed that connection and compliance were only part of the picture. Much of the required information may already be captured through existing governance reporting, but a more consistent industry-wide approach would help build a clearer picture of dashboards’ impact over time.
