14 April 2026
Festina Finance, a leading European provider of pension administration technology, today warned that while pensions dashboards are successfully delivering on data, many schemes remain underprepared for the member engagement and support that will need to follow.
Dan McLaughlin, UK Country Head at Festina Finance, said: “With roughly 60 million pension records and tens of millions of State Pension records now linked to the Dashboards infrastructure, around three-quarters of all relevant records, the Dashboards Programme represents the biggest step change in pensions engagement for decades. However, there is a real danger that schemes assume the work ends once connection is complete.
“With just six months to go until the 31 October 2026 connection deadline, the next challenge is operational. Once dashboards go live, member engagement is expected to surge, so schemes and administrators need to be ready – scaling capacity, handling more complex queries, and ensuring guidance is clear and consistent. This means thinking now about how member journeys will work in practice, where pressure points are likely to emerge, and having systems and processes that are able to respond quickly and frequently to meet the needs of rapidly evolving consumer needs.
“To prepare, schemes should review member communication journeys, identify the most common enquiries—from personal data questions to transfers or contribution reviews—and ensure consistent responses across teams. Estimated Retirement Income (ERI) figures are also likely to generate interest, so stress-testing service capacity, aligning internal processes and having to and through automation – with self-service at the heart – will be key to maintaining a high-quality member experience.”
McLaughlin continued: “Without this level of preparation and automation, increased visibility risks causing confusion rather than clarity, with members turning to informal or unreliable sources for guidance. Dashboards provide a strong foundation for transforming pensions engagement. While much of the technical work – data, connectivity, and calculations – has been completed, the focus must now shift to operational readiness and member support to turn visibility into meaningful outcome.”
-ENDS-
