In case you missed the third session of Pensions Dashboards Week 2024, here’s everything you need to know from Wednesday’s ‘Data, AI and dashboards – a match made in heaven?’ This discussion covered the ways smart use of data and AI can help build trust and encourage engagement with pension dashboards.
From digitising millions of member records to integrating revolutionary new technology, dashboards offer an extraordinary opportunity to transform the UK pensions sector. This webinar discussed members’ expectations of improved digital experiences, and how dashboards can use data and AI to help deliver them. We also covered how appropriately handling sensitive data can build trust and engagement with members.
The experts joining to discuss data, AI and dashboards were Gareth Tancred (CEO, Pensions Management Institute), Adam Warwick (CTO, Bravura) and Lisa Lyon (Founder, mypensionID). Below are some key insights from the discussion. You can watch the full video here.
Gareth Tancred (Pensions Management Institute)
People’s ability to save is being undermined by the UK’s cost of living crisis: money is short for many, which is reducing the amount they feel they can afford to pay into their pensions.
“As an industry we’re very good at telling people they should be saving harder for their pension. And yet, when we play those messages back to the general population, we tend to hear that people can’t afford to! Pensions and savings have never been more important, and yet many people feel lost or disempowered.”
Auto-enrolment has brought millions of people into the system, but now many of these users aren’t sure how much money they have in each pension pot, or how they should be managing them. AI can help smooth the integration of pensions into one platform along with other financial data, enabling greater predictive analytics and tailored financial guidance.
“Simply displaying information is not enough, dashboards must also give insights that empower people to make informed long-term decisions. It’s not just a convenience, it’s actually a necessity. The dashboard has to be a catalyst for profound change, forming a bridge between people’s everyday lives and a complex financial world.”
Adam Warwick (Bravura)
Adam emphasised that AI is already embedded in many aspects of the world around us, including chatbots and claims handling. Now generative AI is rapidly expanding its capabilities, making it possible that it will soon expand beyond our current situation to embrace more complex decision-making.
“Think big; consider where this technology can really transform how your business operates and serves your customer. Build your capability by working with a broad range of partners and use those relationships to make sure you get started and try something sooner rather than later.”
“What’s holding back the pensions industry from innovating? Data and integration. Our data is typically not accessible in core systems, and uninterpretable for common use. There hasn’t been a push to standardise and share data across the industry, which is needed to give consumers better access to their pots and the ability to move them around. There’s no technological block, and these issues aren’t insurmountable.”
Lisa Lyon (mypensionID)
There is currently so much discourse in the media currently about pension scams and fraud. Thus, in light of members being educated and potentially frightened about the dangers, the pension scheme needs to protect them, and they need to feel protected.
“You need to communicate to the members that their data is protected. Our observations using mypensionID have been that adoption of digital solutions is not an issue because we listened to our members and built the solution around their needs with the right protection and accurate data. Engagement is the cornerstone of member interaction and the key to the success of the digital platforms you build. If users do not engage your platform will never be a reality.”
Lisa also pointed out that low engagement is prevalent throughout the industry, with lack of trust a key reason why. Part of building trust comes from holding accurate data, and protecting it behind security products using multi-factor authentication—the most robust security solution.
“Would you trust an industry that keeps hold of your money and makes it hard for you to get hold of it? Some pension providers think that the pensions dashboard will fix data issues, but it’s not. If schemes do not have accurate data now, going into the dashboards is going to give them a whole nightmare of issues!”
In case you missed the third session of Pensions Dashboards Week, you can watch the recording on demand here.
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