Preregistration: Register your interest to connect directly to the pensions dashboards ecosystem

Overview

Purpose of this step

The preregistration process ensures that only legitimate organisations and individuals can apply to connect to the pensions dashboards ecosystem (‘the ecosystem’). This is relevant for pension providers, schemes, integrated service providers (ISPs) and third-party administrators (TPAs) wanting to create a new direct connection to the ecosystem. You only need to do this once for the initial pension provider or scheme. 

The aim of this step is to check that:

• the individual completing the process is who they claim to be  
• the individuals who will hold the roles of primary business contact (PBC) and primary technical contact (PTC) are who they claim to be 
• the individual is genuinely representing that organisation and has the relevant authority  
• the organisation has a legitimate reason to request connection  
• the organisation has the technical capability to connect 

Who completes this step?

You will need several people to contribute to this step, including:

• the initial contact (usually the primary business contact) to complete all the forms involved in this process
• the primary business contacts and primary technical contacts to verify their identity
• business and technical colleagues to attend a meeting with the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) engagement and technical team

Before you begin

Before PDP can send you the preregistration invitation email, you need to:

• sign and return the framework agreement to the Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP)
• identify your vouching pension provider or scheme and notify them that you’ve assigned this role to them – they will prove your organisation has a legitimate reason to connect

When you contact your vouching pension provider or scheme, tell them:

• you need their details (regulatory body, pension provider or scheme name, regulator number)
• you will share their details with PDP
• the names and organisational addresses of your proposed primary business contacts, primary technical contacts and initial contacts (if different from the primary business contacts)
• that PDP will contact them to confirm these details

Find more information about vouching scheme requirements and responsibilities and how to get a registration code for your vouching scheme.

What you need to do in this step

1. Register your interest to connect directly to the ecosystem.
2. Meet with the PDP engagement team and technical team.
3. Submit your PBC and PTC contact details.

1. Register your interest to connect directly to the ecosystem

Gather the required information

You need to provide:

• your name, as it appears on your identity document
• your organisation’s details
• details of the vouching scheme, including the regulating body, name, and the regulator number (either the Firm Reference Number (FRN) from the FCA or the Pension Scheme Registry (PSR) number from TPR)

Verify your organisational email  address

You must verify your organisational email address before starting preregistration. PDP will send you an email with a link for you to do this. This email will be sent to the organisational email address you used to contact PDP.

Once your email has been verified, you will then receive an email with a link to the ‘Register your interest to connect directly to the pensions dashboards ecosystem’ form. This link may only be used by you. 

Complete the ‘register your interest’ form

PDP will email you a link to a form for you to explain why your organisation is connecting to the ecosystem. This link will expire within 24 hours.

The form comprises the following 4 entries:

1. Select the reason your organisation wants to connect to the pensions dashboards ecosystem

• Option 1: You are a pension provider (FCA regulated) covered by FCA rules, or pension scheme (TPR regulated) covered by the Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022. This includes where you will also connect other pension providers and schemes.  
• Option 2: You are a third-party organisation connecting pension providers or schemes, for example an integrated service provider (ISP) or third-party administrator (TPA).

2. Organisation details

You need to enter your organisation’s:

• legal entity type (pension scheme, company or partnership)
• registered office address
• company/partnership name (if applicable)
• company/partnership number (if applicable)
• website address

If your organisation is registered on Companies House, you can find the legal entity type under ‘Company type’. If you’re unsure of your organisation’s legal entity type, then you may need to consult your organisation’s legal department.

3. Details of the initial contact

You (the initial contact) need to enter your:

• name, as it appears on your identity document
• job title
• organisational email address (for example, [email protected])
• direct phone number (mobile or landline) that you have direct access to (this number will be used for identity verification only)

You will need to enter this information later for verification using GOV.UK One Login. When you do this, the name and organisational email address you enter must be an exact match.

4. Vouching scheme details

Your organisation must prove that it has a legitimate reason to connect directly to the ecosystem. You need to provide PDP with details of the vouching scheme’s:

• regulating body (either the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or The Pensions Regulator (TPR))
• pension provider or scheme name, as registered with their regulator
• regulator number (either the Firm Reference Number (FRN) from the FCA or the Pension Scheme Registry (PSR) number from TPR)

You should contact your vouching scheme to inform them that:

• you will share their details (regulating body, pension provider or scheme name, and regulator number) with PDP
• PDP will be in touch with the vouching scheme to verify your organisation

The vouching scheme must also be the first pension provider or scheme that you register on the connection portal.

If your organisation is a pension provider, your ‘Pension provider or scheme name’ may be the same as your ‘Company name’.

Identity verification for the initial contact

Once the form is submitted, PDP will review the submission within 5 working days. 

If your request is approved, you will need to verify your identity using GOV.UK One Login. You will receive a request by email to do this. Make sure that the name and email address you enter here are identical to the details you entered when registering your interest. 

Your GOV.UK One Login session will time out after 1 hour of inactivity. Have all your necessary documents to hand before starting the journey.

If you've not heard from PDP within 5 days, let us know via the support hub.

All emails from PDP will come from [email protected]. If you are not getting emails from PDP:

• check your junk or spam folder
• ask your IT department to add this email to an allow list of addresses

1. Due diligence checks

PDP will carry out due diligence checks using details provided about your organisation. You do not need to do anything.

2. Vouching scheme check

PDP will ask the relevant regulator for the contact details of a trusted contact from the vouching scheme. PDP will contact them to verify:

• that your organisation will be connecting them
• the name and email address of the:
  • initial contact
  • primary business contact
  • primary technical contact

2. Meet with the PDP engagement team and technical team

Following the completion of the pension provider or scheme check, PDP will contact you to book in a meeting with the PDP engagement team and PDP technical team.

Meeting with the PDP engagement team and PDP technical team

The purpose of this call is to act as a security measure to detect fraudulent applications, gain an understanding of the timelines you are expecting to work to and determine your readiness to begin the connection journey.

We expect these people to join the call:

• initial contact
• primary business contact
• technical architect
• test manager

The initial contact and primary business contact may be the same person.

You can bring along additional members of your team.

The call is made up of 2 parts.

1. Engagement segment – you’ll need to confirm:

• Mandatory: You are the ‘initial contact’ whose name was submitted during the preregistration process.
• Mandatory: Details of the vouching scheme, including their name and regulator
• Informational: The earliest date you expect your vouching scheme’s to be connected (their ‘connection date’
• Informational: Details about the additional pension providers and schemes you are expecting to connect, including their size, type and connect by dates in guidance.

2. Technical segment – we will ask you the following questions:

• Mandatory: Can you describe your solution architecture at a high level?
• Mandatory: At what stage are you with your solution build?
• Informational: Do you process all the find data received yourself or do you pass it on to a further party (such as a TPA, pension provider, or scheme)?
  • if yes, is this for all or just some pension providers and schemes? What type of pension provider or scheme and what size?
• Informational: Do you store and return the view data yourself or does it involve a further party (such as a TPA, pension provider, or scheme)?
  • if yes, is this for all or just some pension providers and schemes? What type of pension provider or scheme and what size?
• Mandatory: In what jurisdiction will you receive find data?
• Informational: Can you describe your technical team structure?
  • Do you have the following resources in place (or equivalent) - developer team, an architect, test manager, tech lead, security lead.
  • Do you have the roles we expect in the connection portal? Primary business contact, primary technical contact, test manager, security lead, service manager.
• Mandatory: Can you confirm your solution can meet the standards as set out in the code of connection, covering the security standards, service standards and operational standards?
• Mandatory: Where are you up to with testing? Have you done adequate testing against your build?
• Mandatory: Have you built your own test harness?

You will be required to share a diagram of your architecture. We recommend that you prepare a presentation for the call which can include this.

We’ll finish with a Q&A session, where you can:

• ask any questions about the process
• share next steps
• agree the frequency of ongoing catch-ups

PDP will email you to confirm the outcome. If it is successful, you will need to submit contact details for your PBC and PTC. If you are unsuccessful, PDP will explain what your options are.

3. Submit your PBC and PTC contact details

The PBCs and PTCs will need to verify their identity after the form is submitted. If you (the initial contact) are also a PBC, you will not need to verify your identity again.

For each user, you will provide their:

• name as it appears on their identity document
• job title
• organisational email address (for example, [email protected])
• direct phone number (mobile or landline) that they have direct access to (this number will be used for identity verification only)

PDP will be using GOV.UK One Login for identity verification.

If approved, you’ll get an invitation to create your primary business contact account.

If your request is unsuccessful, you will receive an email confirming this and explaining what you need to do.

Identity documents

You can find a full list of acceptable identity documents for GOV.UK One Login.

How long it will take

Preregistration may take up to 4 weeks.

If you have not heard from PDP within 2 weeks each time you submit any information in this process, let us know via the support hub. 

Support

Changelog

Last updated:25/11/2024