Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) Digital Identity Service

The Money and Pensions Service's Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) is responsible for developing a pensions dashboards ecosystem which will enable individuals to view their pensions data via their chosen dashboard.

Part of the dashboards ecosystem is an Identity Service that allows users to verify their identity, and authenticate themselves for subsequent visits, so that they can access other elements of the ecosystem. This provides the verification required to assure pension schemes and providers that they are returning data to the correct user. This service must comply with GPG45 identity verification and GPG44 identity authentication good practice guides. During the ecosystem development stages, PDP has contracted with a single Identity Provider (IDP) to implement this service. For future delivery, PDP requires a solution that maximises accessibility and considers inclusivity. In other words, providing ease of access to the widest possible percentage of the UK population. The solution should also provide a smooth user experience and consider the potential range of user needs that might be catered for.

A comprehensive 'identity verification approach' market engagement exercise was undertaken by PDP in 2020 prior to the appointment of the current provider. This subsequent engagement is for PDP to engage with the identity authentication and verification market in order to identify all possible solutions that could fulfil our criteria. This engagement is open to IDPs, Orchestration Service Providers (OSP), and any other organisations operating within this area.

To participate, please can you respond, to the contact email address, indicating if you would be interested in this potential opportunity and how your solution would meet the following criteria: 1) Eventual accessibility for the widest section of the UK population, with minimal requirement for the user to create new digital identities. It would be useful to understand how your organisation might expand and improve accessibility over time to meet this requirement, considering the challenges the users of a pensions dashboard might face. 2) Compliance with GPG45 and GPG44 good practice guides. The GPG45 level of confidence currently required is Medium, though the option to move to High in the future would be beneficial. 3) Intention to be certified, or current certification status, under the UK Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework. 4) Ability to handle tens of thousands of transactions per day.

It would also be appreciated if you could give an indication of your charges per transaction for both verification and authentication.

Please note, this is not a call for competition, but a desire to carry out early market engagement to support development of the commercial strategy for this requirement. The approach for duration of contract(s) and routes to market for the future procurement are currently undecided.