On the go: Financial services software company Altus and platform technology specialist ITM have been confirmed as the first participants in the Pensions Dashboards Programme’s “Alpha” stage to move forwards to the next development stage.
The companies, which joined forces in November to become the first commercial integrated service provider for the dashboards, will now begin testing their connection to the project in advance of the first staging deadline in 2023.
According to the announced schedule, large schemes, with more than 1,000 members, will be introduced between April 2023 and September 2024, before medium schemes (100-999 members) will join between October 2024 and October 2025. Small and micro schemes (with fewer than 99 members) do not have a specific date set, although the consultation stated it is likely to be from 2026.
There have been concerns, however, that the size of the task at hand will lead to further delays, especially for public sector schemes. Some industry experts have called for a “rethink” of the government’s commitment to ensuring both “find” and “view” functionalities are available at launch.
The second development stage will see Altus and ITM test their connection to the dashboards, as well as the flow of data, to ensure their processes are fit for purpose and to establish protocols to prepare other providers to connect.
The testing process, which will see the digital architecture connected, will at first use artificial data before moving on to real data drawn from volunteer pension providers.
Altus and ITM have billed their joint solution, known as Pension Fusion, as a “secure, reliable and hassle-free way for data providers to connect to the dashboards’ ecosystem”.
Maurice Titley, ITM’s chief innovation officer, said: “Over the past few months, we have worked very closely with the Pensions Dashboards Programme and we are delighted to be confirmed as first Alpha participants.
“This announcement is testament of the trust the PDP has placed in our understanding of the challenges faced by the industry, and recognises that our solution is most advanced and ready to connect pension providers to the pensions dashboards.”
Altus director Ben Cocks added: “We are delighted to be able to support the PDP in the next phase of the pensions dashboards’ implementation. Pooling on Altus and ITM’s combined expertise, we are developing a straightforward route to compliance.
“This announcement proves that our dashboard connection solution is the cornerstone of a successful rollout of the pensions dashboards.”
