Over 20 million employees in the UK have a workplace pension, meaning nearly 11.3 million more Brits have created one in the last decade. In 2012, only 9.7 million Brits had a workplace pension, but thanks in large part to the UK’s automatic pension enrollment system, adoption rates have more than doubled over the last decade.1 This was a huge step forward in the pension space back then; however, there’s a new need for greater insights today. Here’s why…
While more UK employees have pensions enabling them to save for retirement, surveys show that almost 90% of Brits aren’t putting enough money into their pension pots2 and three out of four UK adults don’t even know how much is in their pension pot.3 With employees changing jobs more frequently and employers using different pension providers, consumers are finding it more and more difficult to get a comprehensive view of their pension investments and moreover, their total net worth.
Research from the Financial Conduct Authority reveals that more than a third of over-45s with Defined Contribution (DC) Pension funds don’t understand their decumulation options.4 And more than half of all pots accessed for the first time in the contract-based retirement income market were accessed without advice or guidance.5
Open Banking was designed to bring greater clarity to financial data, but pensions have been left behind, and with it, so has a consumer’s full financial picture. By including pension data with the other data that financial service providers and third parties are able to leverage, Open Banking has the potential to make it easier for consumers to access, manage, and understand their pension investments along with all of their other assets. With greater transparency and control over their pensions, consumers will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions which will lead to better retirement outcomes.
With consumer-permissioned access to pension data, financial service providers are better equipped to:
- Help employees prepare for retirement and optimize pension accumulation and pension decumulation
- Encourage better savings behavior by young professionals
- Build strategic financial models to help consumers plan for retirement
- Combine pension data with investment and savings data to enable consumers to see their net worth and get a better grasp on whether they’re setting themselves up for a financially stable retirement
- Deliver the advice and guidance consumers need to understand their pension choices contribution amounts
Good quality data can also enable those in charge of pension schemes to meet regulatory duties and provide members with the right benefits at the right time.
Read more about the power of pension data
As a leading provider of financial data aggregation, Envestnet | Yodlee provides financial institutions and fintechs with a reliable connection for accessing and aggregating pension data. Interested in exploring more ways to help support your consumers with their pension investments? Reach out to our team to learn more about our full range of products and solutions.
