Public sector digitalisation is moving ahead and the German Pension Insurance is keeping pace. A milestone was reached with the launch of the new Customer Portal, which pools the German Pension Insurance’s digital services. Users can view their personal data, submit applications or check their emails – conveniently and securely on their smartphone, tablet or laptop.
The Customer Portal was launched at the end of August 2023 primarily for insured persons and pensioners but also for Riester savers (Riester is a form of private pension that is subsidised by state allowances and tax benefits). By the end of 2023 almost 140,000 insured persons had registered to use the Customer Portal and the website had clocked up more than 2.1 million visits. The Customer Portal has a mailbox that completely replaces traditional surface mail if the customer consents to fully electronic communication. This saves vast quantities of paper. The new portal also has the advantage that digital applications, documents and messages reduce the German Pension Insurance employees’ workloads and contribute to shortening processing times. Expanding the digital data record base simplifies and automates processes.
“Everything at a glance: The Digital Pension Overview makes retirement planning so much easier.”
Pension entitlements at a glance – the digital pension overview
The Digital Pension Overview has been online since 30 June 2023. All citizens can access information and see an overview of their personal pension entitlements under statutory, occupational and private pension insurance schemes online at Digital Pension Overview. The Digital Pension Overview is therefore a good source of early advice on personal retirement planning.
In the first few months after the service went online more than 1.4 million citizens visited the website to obtain information about their personal pension entitlements. 135,000 users also registered to use the new online portal. Even pension product providers have registered to use the portal and, by the end of the year, 105 pension funds had been connected with the Digital Pension Overview. At end of 2024, it will be mandatory for all pension product providers with more than 1,000 pensions under management to be connected to the Digital Pension Overview’s central office.
