Moneyhub, the market-leading fintech and Open Finance firm, has appointed leading audit, tax and consulting firm, RSM UK as its statutory auditor of compliance with the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) Standards, ahead of launching its own commercial pensions dashboard.

The introduction of Pensions Dashboards marks a major step-change in the pensions industry, giving consumers the ability to view all their pension pots, including their state pension, securely online in one place. It’s hoped the move will make retirement planning easier and also enable pensions savers to reconnect with any “lost” pension pots. 

To become a Qualifying Pensions Dashboard Service (QPDS) provider, the Department of Work and Pension’s (DWP) dashboards regulations prescribe that all applicant firms must undergo a statutory pre-connection audit (PCA) of compliance with the PDP Standards suite, undertaken by an expert party, independent of the applicant firm.

The PDP Standards define all the detailed mandatory data, design, technical, security, service, operational and reporting features with which all commercial pensions dashboards must comply.

These statutory compliance audits must be carried out both prior to connection of the firm’s QPDS to the PDP Central Digital Architecture and, on an annual basis thereafter, with the auditor’s official reports being sent to the Money and Pension Service (MaPS). 

Moneyhub intends to be among the first QPDS operators and has been conducting a review of the audit market, followed by a procurement exercise, since late 2023, leading to the appointment of RSM UK.

The PDP Standards are currently being finalised, with the first iteration of Design Standards expected to be published in Q4 2024, around the same time as the FCA publishes its final Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS) Rules for QPDS operators.

Moneyhub and RSM will work together during the remainder of 2024, with Moneyhub preparing all the necessary documentary evidence to support the pre-connection audit of the Moneyhub QPDS. This will enable RSM to conduct the pre-connection audit as early and quickly as possible, once all PDP Standards are finalised - the pre-connection audit itself being a prerequisite before firms can apply to the FCA to be granted permissions to become an FCA-regulated QDPS operator.
 

Dan Scholey, Moneyhub Chief Commercial Officer said: “Due to the technical breadth of the PDP Standards, Moneyhub wanted to appoint an expert auditor with experience across the full range of relevant fields, including pensions data, consumer-facing app operations, application programming interfaces (APIs), and so on. We found that in RSM, along with consistent professionalism, and enthusiasm for collaboration.

We are looking forward to working closely with RSM on this new venture, and continuing to lead the market in supporting the delivery of commercial pensions dashboards to consumers, helping people to engage with their retirement savings and driving better outcomes for savers and providers alike.”

Paul Jennings, partner, RSM UK, said: “We are very much looking forward to working closely with MoneyHub on a development which has such a fundamental impact on how people view, understand, and derive value from their pensions. The extent of knowledge, technical expertise and passion within the MoneyHub team is striking, and we are delighted that they have chosen to partner with RSM on such a revolutionary change to the pensions industry, aimed at delivering better outcomes for all participants. 

Our multi-disciplinary team, highly experienced in a wide range of regulatory assurance work, is well-placed to provide the assurance required for industry to provide this service, in turn giving people the confidence to trust the opportunity this dashboard presents and harness its full potential.”