PensionBee continues Open Banking integration

Source: FT

The pension consolidator’s clients are now able to see their live pension balance within the Money Dashboard app, which has almost 500,000 registered users.

The integration – which follows the partnership with Yolt in September – embeds pensions even further into the open banking ecosystem.

Launched in 2010, Money Dashboard pledges to give consumers a true view of their financial position by consolidating all their current accounts, credit cards, and savings accounts from more than 60 financial institutions.

According to Clare Reilly, head of corporate development at PensionBee, bringing together short- and long-term finances as part of open banking was an “important step towards driving up financial capability skills for life and starting to tackle the UK’s long-term savings crisis”.

She added: “Connecting the small changes you make to your daily spending today to building the financial future you want and deserve for yourself tomorrow, couldn’t come sooner for UK savers.

“Seeing your current financial self alongside your future financial self is how we build financial resilience in a generation of savers who can’t abide out-of-date paper pension statements they simply don’t understand.”

Jossie Ellis, head of growth at Money Dashboard, said pensions were a key part of long-term financial planning.

She said: “Users will be able to connect their PensionBee account details into their Money Dashboard app – where they can set budgeting goals, track progress and forecast how quickly they’ll meet their goals.

“They can also link other accounts, such as credit cards from other providers, to help them gain a comprehensive overview of their finances.”

Paul Stocks, financial services director at Dobson and Hodge, said “any tools which marry up short term spending patterns to longer term financial planning are welcomed”.

He said: “For those who don’t receive regular financial advice, their ‘engagement’ may be limited to putting their annual statement into the kitchen drawer and therefore greater awareness of the their longer term financial direction should be positive.

“My only concern is the reaction some may have to volatility and whether that could drive detrimental behaviour however, if this exposure to volatility is seen from the outset, investors should soon understand (at a time when their funds are relatively small) how things fluctuate.”