Smart Pension launches industry-first call wait time tracker

This weekly average call time tracker is the first within the pensions industry. It demonstrates Smart Pension’s longstanding commitment to combining innovative technology with personal interactions to deliver high-quality customer experiences. Members, employers, and advisers can view the tracker in their personal accounts, in app, and on the Smart Pension website.

In a 2023 survey, Microsoft found an average call wait time of a staggering 8 minutes and 27 seconds within UK financial services.

In addition to the ease of a digital-first platform, many savers want the reassurance of speaking to a real person, without delay, when handling their finances. For retirement savers this is typically around consolidating their pension, understanding their options in retirement, or changing details on their pension. Transparency about how long it will take to speak to an agent provides savers with the confidence that their call will be answered promptly and their questions answered patiently, helping to alleviate unnecessary stress.

The call wait time tracker sits alongside Smart Pension’s award-winning app, offering savers a modern, digital pension they can manage easily online, and clear access to personal support when they need it. Smart Pension has the industry’s highest Trustpilot score, a 4.8/5, which is based on over 3,000 customer reviews, and the company achieved an all-time high member NPS score of 75, reflecting the high satisfaction of our customers across the UK.

When asked about attitudes to digital banking, despite a strong digital orientation amongst Gen Z, personal interactions remain important for certain services. For example, 61% of Gen Z say they prefer to contact customer support in person when it comes to banking, and 56% have used in-person channels to resolve issues or complaints. This hybrid expectation is no different in the pensions industry. It means all financial services companies must deliver seamless digital services while maintaining good customer support.

Sue Whittington, Chief Operating Officer at Smart Pension, said:

"Good customer service isn’t a nice-to-have; it is the whole experience. Today’s savers expect fast, simple and reliable support - whether that’s from their app, or from a person on the other end of the phone. I’m delighted to be publishing our call wait times and we'd love to see other industry players put similar call wait time policies in place so all retirement savers can benefit. By publishing these times, we are holding ourselves to account publicly and can reassure our savers that their call will be answered quickly to help them feel confident that their pension is in safe hands.”

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About Smart Pension

Launched in 2015, Smart Pension now exceeds £10bn in Assets Under Management (AUM) and serves over 2 million members and 100,000 employers. It is powered by Keystone, Smart’s global savings and investments technology platform.

Aquiline, Barclays, Chrysalis Investments, DWS Group, Fidelity InternationalStrategic Ventures, J.P. Morgan, Legal & General Investment Management, MUFG and Natixis Investment Managers are all investors in Smart Pension.