Rob Yuille, head of retirement policy for the Association of British Insurers, says there are concerns currently, although these are known to the teams working on developing the dashboard.
One of the most significant challenges is the cost, which will be a burden on some players.
He says: “As most of the costs will be borne by industry, there will need to be a comprehensive and compelling business case to stimulate investment in data cleansing, API connectivity and digital identity.
“The wide variety of firms involved in the prototype demonstrates that a large portion of the industry is already supportive.”
Another challenge, cited by Andy Kirby, managing director of The Pensions Portal, is that the “dashboard will only be as good as its relevance to an individual and their understanding of their situation.”
He therefore urges for an educational piece to be incorporated into the dashboard to make it engaging, meaningful, trusted and relevant.
Taking it forward
Some participants believe the more government is involved, the more convoluted the development and the more dilatory the decision-making.
For some, this is a negative and therefore they would urge the government to take its hands off the wheel and allow the pension professionals to drive it forward.
This is the view of Mr Brown, who opines: “Now the prototype has been reviewed, the government must allow the industry to get on with the job to ensure continued momentum and that all providers and schemes sign up.”
But government should not leave the process completely, says Mr Yuille, especially when it comes to funding and all-important regulation.
He adds: “The industry alone cannot deliver the robust regulatory framework needed to ensure delivery in 2019.
“Therefore, existing efforts must be supported by legislation that can guarantee a critical mass of pension providers participating [in delivering dashboard services].”
