Participate in the Pensions Dashboards Programme’s testing phases
PDP will work with the team developing the MaPS dashboard but we would like to test our systems with up to three commercial organisations interested in developing additional pensions dashboards, to ensure the technology and our standards work for all types of dashboard providers.
Register your interest
If your organisation is interested in participating in the test phase please email infopdp@maps.org.uk and we will send you an application pack. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is Friday 5 November at 5pm and we will announce which dashboard providers will take part in the testing by the end of November 2021. The initial (alpha) testing phase will run from December 2021.
We will select potential dashboard providers based on the criteria below:
- appetite to get involved
- existing capability
- capacity to support
- willingness to client base to support the testing phases
- contribution to the overall development of the dashboard service
- openness to sharing findings
- positive contribution to the development within the specifications set in legislation and by DWP
We will run two webinars, on 18 and 21 October, to further explain the application process pack and answer any additional questions.
Why get involved?
Getting involved with this early work provides an opportunity to influence the design of pensions dashboards and help identify any challenges for potential dashboard providers in connecting to the central technical infrastructure. The testing will also inform:
the development of dashboard design standards
the implementation of the ecosystem technical standards which will include the authorisation protocol and APIs used
dashboard specific functionality
the FCA regulatory regime needed for the operation of the Dashboards service
the understanding of how commercial dashboards may be used and the range of services they may wish to provide
our understanding of the needs of commercial dashboard providers
how the private sector dashboard activity is managed
our understanding of the range of organisations that may be interested in becoming dashboard providers
Research, insight and updates
To support organisations considering providing a pensions dashboard, the Pensions Dashboards Programme will provide information on the following:
- technical specifications for the development of dashboard interaction, including access to test environments
- onboarding processes
- regulatory issues
- design standards
- research findings relating to dashboard design
Research to support dashboard providers
While PDP is developing the digital infrastructure and technical standards that will make pensions dashboards work, it will not create a front-end pensions dashboard. The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is required by government to create a dashboard and we expect other organisations to become dashboard providers.
Both MaPS and PDP recently undertook qualitative research to support the development of pensions dashboards. The MaPS research explored:
- attitudes, behaviours, needs and expectations of potential dashboard users
- what additional guidance and support users need beyond a view of their pensions data
- what consumers would want to do upon seeing dashboards to inform our customer journey design
- how open users would be to creating a profile
This research is publicly available to support any organisation that is developing its own pensions dashboard.
The PDP research focused on understanding likely system requirements and what information potential users would look for and find useful, generally, within their pensions dashboard.
Regulation and compliance
Regulation of pensions dashboards providers
The UK government has committed to making the provision of a pensions dashboard subject to FCA regulation. Following the appropriate legislative change, any entity that wishes to become a pension dashboard provider must obtain FCA authorisation to do so. Participation in the alpha testing phase does not guarantee FCA authorisation of the participants.
The FCA’s authorisation process ensures that all regulated firms meet common sets of minimum standards, called the threshold conditions, before the FCA will authorise them.
In due course, the FCA will consult on the full set of regulatory requirements and expectations for FCA authorised providers of qualifying pensions dashboards. In advance of this, parties interested in seeking authorisation for this activity can begin to consider many of the high-level standards in the FCA Handbook that apply to all FCA regulated firms.
Find out more about FCA regulation of dashboard providers.
Compliance with design and technical standards
In order to connect to the pensions dashboards ecosystem, all pensions dashboards will need to comply with the design and technical standards that PDP will create. We will develop and finalise the standards during the alpha test phase. This is to ensure consistency of service for users, irrespective of which dashboard they choose to access information about their pensions.
PDP is undertaking user-testing to develop the design standards, which will describe how information must be presented on pensions dashboards.
Since the appointment of Capgemini with Origo to supply the central technical architecture, PDP has increased its focus on developing the technical standards that will determine how both data and dashboard providers connect to the pensions dashboards ecosystem.
You can find out more about our activity across the programme in the latest progress update report.
