Pensions dashboards: how to connect to the ecosystem

Pension providers need to connect to the pensions dashboards ecosystem provided by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) before October 2026.

When launched, pensions dashboards will be places where consumers can securely access online information about their pensions that are not yet paying benefits.

We published pensions dashboard rules for pension providers[1] in November 2022.

See the rules in our Handbook (COBS 19.11)[2]

What pension providers need to do

By 31 October 2026 at the latest, providers of relevant pension schemes[3] must:

Register with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).
Connect to the digital architecture operated by the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) – which is a function of MaPS.
Comply fully with COBS 19.11, that is, be ready and able to:
- Receive requests to find pensions, and search records for data matches.
- Return pensions information to the consumer’s chosen pensions dashboard.

Guidance from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sets out a staged timetable for connection to the digital architecture ahead of the October 2026 deadline.

Read the DWP guidance[4]

The dates in the guidance are not mandatory, but our rules require FCA-regulated pension providers to have regard to this guidance.

The obligation to comply fully with COBS 19.11 applies from the date on which the firm connects to the live environment.

The relevant ‘connect by’ dates in the guidance are determined by the number of relevant members of personal pensions, stakeholder pensions and deferred annuities across the firm (that is, per firm reference number (FRN)), regardless of how many schemes or books they are spread across.

The relevant dates in the guidance for FCA-regulated providers are:

30 April 2025 – if your firm has 5,000 or more relevant members.
31 January 2026 – if your firm has fewer than 5,000 relevant members.

1. Register firm with MaPS for connection

To register for connection to the MaPS’ pensions dashboards ecosystem, firms in scope of COBS 19.11 need a registration code generated by us.

When to apply for a code

If you are connecting to the MaPS pensions dashboards ecosystem via a third-party connection provider, such as an integrated service provider (ISP), the third-party connection provider will be able to advise you when it will need your firm's registration code to meet your mutually agreed connection date.

Registration codes are valid for 30 days, so please consider whether your Senior Management Function of Compliance Oversight (SMF16) will be available to receive the code during its 30-day validity period.

If your firm does not currently have an active SMF16, or if your current active SMF16 will be unavailable during the 30-day validity period, please nominate an alternative appropriate active SMF.

Please note, your registration code cannot be used until your ISP has completed PDP’s operational acceptance testing[5].

Apply for a registration code

To request a registration code:

Download the application form (120 KB)[6].
Email the completed form to [email protected] with the subject line: ‘Pensions Dashboards – Registration Codes Request’.

Any member of your firm can complete and submit the form.

Make sure you:

Complete all the mandatory fields on the form accurately.
Supply details of your firm’s SMF16 or alternative appropriate active SMF.
Submit only 1 form per firm reference number (FRN) at a time.

Firms subject to COBS 19.11 require 1 registration code per FRN. The application form does not require the firm to list the separate personal pensions, stakeholder pensions and deferred annuity products that it is obliged to connect under that code.

Firms that also administer occupational pension schemes subject to the requirements in the Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022, should work with each in-scope occupational scheme's trustee or manager to obtain the relevant registration code from The Pensions Regulator.

You can request more than 2 codes in the application form if you are connecting via more than 2 third-party connection providers.

For first-time applicants, we will issue 2 registration codes as a matter-of-course (unless you request more than 2 codes at the outset). Where a firm needs only one code, it needs to use only 1 of the codes provided.

You can also use this form if you later need additional registration codes.

If you need help to complete the form, email [email protected].

After you submit: what to expect

We will contact you within 2 working days to either:

Issue the codes.
Tell you if there are errors or omissions in your application form.

Once the request is approved, we’ll send 2 emails to your active SMF16 or alternative appropriate active SMF.

Email 1: MaPS registration codes in a password-protected zipped file.
Email 2: password to access the zipped file.

Registration codes are only valid for 30 days.

2. Connect firm to the pensions dashboards ecosystem

Once you receive your registration codes, follow the guidance for ‘connecting via a third party’ on the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) website[7].

If you need any help connecting via a third-party connection provider or integrated service provider (ISP), raise a support query with PDP[8].

Connecting by 30 April 2025

30 April 2025 is the first ‘connect by’ date in the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) guidance on connection[4].

The PDP expects the connection of pension providers and schemes in guidance to begin as planned from April 2025.

We are aware some integrated service providers (ISPs) have started the PDP’s volunteer participant (VP) process but not yet completed connection to the ecosystem, and there is some uncertainty about when this will happen.

We would not consider it a breach of COBS 19.11 if an FCA-regulated provider cannot connect by 30 April 2025 because:

It is using one of the PDP’s VPs as its ISP, and
That ISP has started but not yet completed connection to the ecosystem.

We do not intend to take regulatory action in those circumstances. The firm can keep working with its original ISP to connect in a timely manner after the ISP has completed operational acceptance testing.

At this stage, we would not necessarily expect a firm to appoint an alternative ISP.

Remember: firms should have regard to the guidance with due skill, care and diligence (in line with Principle 2[9]).

What we’ve done so far

April 2024

To help firms connect to the data architecture, we made available a modification by consent[10] for firms that are unable to comply with our COBS 19.11 rules for 100% of their relevant pension scheme members by the dates in DWP’s guidance.

July 2023

We revised our rules[11] to set a connection deadline of 31 October 2026.

This aligns with the Government’s Pensions Dashboards (Amendment) Regulations 2023[12].

14/04/2025 : Information added Updates to page title and information on connecting by 30 April 2025 via a volunteer participant integrated service provider.

21/03/2025 : Information changed under 'Apply for a registration code'

24/02/2025 : Link changed Updated Registration Codes Request form and another small edits.

First published: 27/01/2025 Last updated: 14/04/2025 See all updates