The German government is preparing an ordinance to make pension funds exchange data with the pension dashboard – Digitale Rentenübersicht – by the end of next year, said Imke Petersen, head of the Zentralen Stelle für die Digitale Rentenübersicht (ZfDR), the unit within the first pillar manager Deutsche Rentenversicherung responsible for designing the platform.
“On 31 December 2024 all pension funds will have not only to be registered with us, but also will be able to deliver [data],” Petersen said, adding that the ordinance will likely foresee different phases to reach the point of delivery.
The Deutsche Rentenversicherung is now dealing with topics including the support of pension schemes on the path to join the platform, the implementation of automated connection tests, and further functionalities, according a presentation Petersen gae last week during the Handelsblatt occupational pension conference.
Petersen said during the event that a further topic in the future could relate to the possibility of other countries joining the platform, but at the moment this step is not yet planned.
Currently, more that 400 pension funds, belonging to 78 organisations, are in the process of registering and joining the dashboard, she added.
The operational phase of the Digitale Rentenübersicht started in December last year, with an assessment of the platform initiated in January to further developing it. The Deustche Rentrenversicherung started an evaluation process to understand how user-friendly the platform is.
The authentication on the platform takes place only through a digital German ID, to have an overview of pension entitlements according to the type of pension pay-out including lifelong pension (Lebelslangerente), pensions referring to a limited occupational period (Zeitrente), and andone-off pay-outs.
The use of the digital ID has put some users off from registering, and this could represent an obstacle for pension schemes employing people without a German ID.
“People have the possibility to request a residence permit within the European Union [to use the platform],” Petersen said.
The dashboard went live in June this year with the Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der Länder (VBL), the supplementary pension provider for public sector employees, Union Investment Privatfonds and Deutsche Rentenversicherung.
So far, the dashboard has recorded 1.3 million visitors, 841,880 inquiries to pension funds from 125,545 registered users, with a total of 101 pension funds having joined the platform, as of 6 November, according to Petersen’s presentation.
The 101 pension funds belong to 14 organisations, including Alte Leipziger, Bosch, Allianz, Philips Pensionskasse, and Deutsche Rentenversicherung.
“Only Bosch has 40 pension schemes that have joined [the platform], Allianz has four [schemes],” said Petersen, adding that in terms of pension schemes joining the platform the numbers are looking good “but there is room for improvement.”
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