Many savers looking to move their hard-earned money to where it’s going to work hardest towards their pension income are being let down, according to new data from PensionBee, a leader in the consumer retirement market.

The new figures show that reveals that the slowest pension providers and administrators are taking up to 18 times longer to transfer savers’ money than the best performing ones.

PensionBee has analysed transfer-in times from 35 major pension providers and administrators across the UK  and discovered that while the fastest completed transfers took just five days, the slowest took between 47 and 90 days, leaving retirement savers routinely waiting months just to move their own money.

Those put on the proverbial naughty step include including Cushon Master Trust and Creative Pension Trust, XPS Administration, LGPS and Capita. The three which fared best were Aviva, True Potential and Fidelity, taking between just five and seven days to fulfil their customer’s requests.

The overall industry average transfer time remained broadly unchanged at 23 days in 2025 as compared to 21 days in 2024.

However, says PensionBee, this was largely driven by the top 20 providers or administrators either improving or holding steady their transfer times, “demonstrating that efficient pension transfers are achievable at scale when providers prioritise customer experience and embrace digital processes”.

“A transfer lottery for pension savers”

It’s at the bottom of the league table where the big changes in transfer times are apparent, with one provider actually doubling the time they took.

“Notably,” says PensionBee, “these transfers are either from providers that are mostly regulated by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) rather than the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or are handled by third-party administrators who are not caught by either regulator; and they do not use electronic transfer platforms (such as Origo), or voluntarily publish their transfer times.

“The result is a bifurcated market: at one end, providers embracing technology and digital processes that are regulated by the FCA and thus must abide by the Consumer Duty, becoming more efficient and achieving faster transfer times; and at the other, those regulated by TPR (or not at all) still taking months to move savers’ money and languishing behind.”

Lisa Picardo, Chief Business Officer UK at PensionBee, said: “Whilst we’re encouraged to see more firms embracing digital and delivering real improvements, the progress is mixed. The providers languishing at the bottom of the table may be failing to invest and modernise, adopting ‘sludge practices’ that serve as a blocker for consumers seeking to engage, or a combination of both.

“Regardless, leaving savers’ pensions stuck and out of sight for months on end is simply not acceptable.

“With Pensions Dashboards set to connect millions of people to their retirement savings for the first time, we’re approaching a once-in-a-generation moment for increased engagement and the improvement of retirement outcomes.

“But discovery is only half the story – savers need to be able to act on what they find and take control of their money.”

You can see PensionBee’s full list of leading providers and their recent transfer times here: https://www.pensionbee.com/uk/press/slowest-pension-providers-take-18x-longer-to-transfer-pensions

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