Guy Opperman, pensions minister, told the Times: ‘There has been speculation as to whether the government wants to proceed with the pensions dashboard. I want to make it clear that this project will go ahead. The dashboard is a key part of our desire to ensure consumers are able to understand their pensions and plan properly for their future.

‘With mobile banking becoming the new norm and consumers embracing the change, the challenge to government and the pensions industry is clear — join the online revolution or be left behind.’

The pension dashboard, announced in the March 2016 budget, will allow individuals to see all of their pension savings and entitlements in one place. Currently, there is no way for people to see the value of all their pensions in one place and research has shown that a third of people approaching retirement find it difficult to keep up to date with their pension pots.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has built an online pension dashboard prototype with government aiming to make the service available to consumers by 2019.

Huw Evans, director general of the ABI, said: ‘I am delighted the pensions dashboard is being taken forward by the government and that the hard work of the ABI and our partners to deliver a prototype will now be continued.

‘A pensions dashboard is vital to helping workers keep track of their pension savings as they move employment as well as helping them track down lost pension pots likely to be worth billions in total. The long-term savings industry will work closely with the government on the next steps to help make this scheme a success for customers.’

The following pension providers have already agreed to participate with the pension dashboard, these are: Aviva, Aon, Abbey Life, Fidelity, HSBC, LV=, Legal and General, NEST, Now: Pensions, People’s Pension, Pheonix Group, Prudential, Royal London, Scottish Widows, Standard Life, Willis Towers Watson and Zurich.

The Pensions Administration standards Association (PASA) and the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) are also involved.

There will be more than one pension dashboard available and it will be up to individuals which one they want to use for example, a bank, employer or advice service may all provide one. There will also be apps available.

The dashboard will work by looking for pension pots that match your details. When these pension pots are found, individuals will be shown the most recent valuation and when that valuation was made. The pension provider’s contact details will be shown, too.

The ABI has previously called for government legislation to ensure all pension providers and schemes make their data available and to create an implementation and governance body which will establish necessary standards.

Report by Amy Austin