The pension market in the Netherlands is facing new challenges. The needs of consumers, employers, and pension administrators are changing. Legislative changes and the need for innovation mean that expectations are moving towards self-service and more personalised services. And pension fund technology had some catching up to do.
Global digital technology and consulting leader Capgemini, a Salesforce strategic partner, introduced a digital pension solution to the market. We learned more about the solution and how it has already benefited its first user – retail pension fund Pensioenfonds Detailhandel.
The need for a digital pension solution
In the Netherlands, pension legislation is constantly changing. There are plans to switch ‘defined benefits pensions’ to ‘defined contributions pensions’ by 2027. On top of this, Dutch consumer expectations are higher than ever. Businesses in the pensions industry must innovate to keep up. Advancements in pension fund technology are a crucial part of the industry’s future success.
Karima Chraa, Business Analyst and Pension Fund Board Member at Capgemini, explained why self-service is key to keeping pension participants satisfied.
“Here in Holland, people are starting to want to know more about their money,” she said. “They want to know exactly what they have and what their options are, and being able to log in and see what’s there gives them the control they demand.”
Times have moved on from the days when people were happy for their employers to manage their pensions. They would wait and see what money they received when they reached retirement age. And it’s not just the advancement of digital transformation. New generations have different expectations.
In terms of innovation and technology, the pensions industry in the Netherlands has been slow to catch up with other financial services. “Pension funds were really lagging behind, innovation-wise,” said Ruud Grossfeldt, Business Analyst at Capgemini and pension specialist, “You see institutions like banks and insurers much more in the lead for technological changes, giving their customers options such as apps and chatbots. Those changes are now coming to the pension world, with Capgemini and Salesforce at the forefront.”
The future of pension fund technology
The Capgemini digital pension solution is a flexible, innovative platform. It has advanced functionalities that offer real benefits to pension providers and participants. Created specifically for the unique needs and challenges of the pension market, it’s a cloud solution. This makes it easy, seamless, and scalable.
Salesforce helps the digital pension solution facilitate real-time communication and data. It also lets people log in and see the exact situation with their money. This makes pensions easier to understand, a bonus to pension participants and providers.
“All they (customers) have to do is log in to their portal to manage everything online,” explains Ruud. “From requesting a value transfer between pension funds to requesting their pension benefit when they’re close to pension age.”
The Salesforce platform enables us to maintain business rules, workflows, communication and case management all in one place. It adds substantial value to our service and helps us be able to innovate on this layer across the functionalities of Salesforce communities.
The digital pension solution in action
Retail pension fund Pensioenfonds Detailhandel has 32k employers, 300k active participants, 120k retirees, and 800k participants who are no longer in the retail sector but have their pension benefits stored. With such a sizeable client base, the fund was looking for the next step in pension fund technology advancement and digital solutions.
The result of Capgemini’s digital pension solution is better customer experience, cost savings, and an effective way to address the new pension regulations.
“Cost Per Participant (CPP) will reduce over time for pension administrators as processes improve and get more and more fully automated, enabling service agents to do what they were hired for: offer the best service to the participants and employers,” said Ruud. Detailhandel is the first pension fund to benefit from the solution, leading the way in the pensions landscape.
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