Benefits Guru Financial Wellness Ratings 2024
A round of applause for Standard Life’s remarkable achievement in the recent Financial Wellness Rating! These distinguished awards, powered by the Finance Technology Research Centre, recognise providers who set the bar high in delivering exceptional value and service to both employers and employees.
Standard Life’s impressive sweep of gold awards is a powerful testament to their unwavering commitment to excellence. This achievement underscores their dedication to providing innovative and high-quality financial wellness solutions that empower their customers to thrive.
We wholeheartedly congratulate Standard Life on this well-deserved recognition and their continued leadership in the financial wellness landscape.
Financial Wellness with & without Open Finance
OPEN BANKING:
Standard Life have partnered with a third party to deliver open finance technology via their workplace pension proposition. This will include data from current/savings accounts and credit cards, including partner and joint accounts. They can connect with all high street and challenger banks. There is no limit to the number of accounts which can be connected, and they will automatically categorise all transactions. Standard Life use the open banking data to help drive better personalised financial outcomes for the end user with intelligent messages to help with spending, saving and debt.
DEBT MANGEMENT:
Standard Life do not currently offer a Debt Management solution as part of their proposition; however, they do provide educational content regarding debt management via the member portal and app. This is also covered in under their financial education.
EMERGENCY CASH FUND:
Standard Life now have a facility to help members create an Emergency Cash Fund (ECF) Funds can only be invested in an ISA at this time. Standard Life also provide educational / learning literature about why an ECF is important via the online member portal and via face-to-face sessions.
FINANCIAL EDUCATION (personalised content):
Standard Life provide personalised financial education to their members, which is based on their age and selected retirement date. This includes information on what a pension is, the state pension, death benefits, retirement options, investment options and savings. They also provide information on wills and help setting one up. This is delivered via online support, and they also have the ability to host bespoke content provided by the employer.
MICRO SAVING FUCTIONALITY:
Standard Life are one of the few providers to offer a Micro Savings functionality as part of their proposition. Members can create one off savings and impulse saving to their ISA, JISA, LISA, GIA or Pension, giving the user the ability to contribute flexible amounts of money into their savings.
VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS:
Standard Life have a very strong process in place in order to help identify vulnerable customers. They follow the FCA four principles to ensure fair treatment and have a dedicated team to identify and address vulnerable customers. All frontline staff are trained quarterly, and they have a dedicated webpages & areas in the member app/portal to provide additional support. They have also partnered with the following charities and support groups: Money Helper, Samaritans, National Debt Line, Citizens Advice, Step Change.
BUDGETING & GOAL SETTING:
Standard Life provide a budget management tool they can create spending and retirement goals. They also have a savings goal function which will provide on-target encouragement or off-target warnings to the user.
FINANCIAL HEALTH CHECK:
Standard Life provide a Financial Health Check tool to help members better understand their current financial health via the client portal. They will look at levels of spending, saving and debt, and factor in all saving vehicles, cash and debt to highlight what financial decisions a user need to make in order to achieve their goals.
HELP TO BUY
Standard Life have a facility to provide members with personalised guidance, from the Saving Goals. Mortgage Calculator to a step by step guide to the home buying process. They signpost government schemes and the need to protection. Members can also utilise the Lifetime ISA.
SAVINGS VECHILES & SMART SAVINGS
Standard Life currently offer a cash ISA, stocks & shares ISA, JISA, LISA and GIA all via Cushon as part of their pension proposition. They also allow for existing products to be transferred in. All products allow one off payments to be made by the member via the app or portal and they have also incorporated the option for the users to apply a ‘contribution holiday’ during times of difficultly or in months with abnormally high spending.
Our annual ratings are designed to assist advisers, providers and employers in their decision-making process and highlight which providers have the greatest strengths, all the awards and the accompanying provider factsheets please visit www.benefitsguru.co.uk/ratings/ click on relevant areas of their pension propositions.
