I’m very pleased to share another important step forward for digital LoAs: Standard Life has officially listed Pension Lab as an approved provider of electronic signatures and will now accept LoAs signed using our eIDAS qualified signature.
This is a significant moment for our customer and for the wider pensions industry - and it reflects growing confidence in the value and reliability of qualified digital signatures.
A meaningful shift for advisers, planners and paraplanners
For advice firms using Pension Lab, nothing changes in how you create or submit a Letter of Authority. But it does mean Standard Life can now:
Trust the cryptographic, timestamped certificate attached to every LoA
Reduce manual checks around authenticity and identity
Process LoAs more consistently and with fewer delays
In short, Standard Life customers will start to benefit from faster, smoother and more secure LoA journeys - without advisers having to adopt new tools or processes.
And with many firms paying around £500 per year for commercial e-signature licences such as DocuSign, having an eIDAS qualified signature built into Pension Lab at no extra cost continues to be a genuine saving.
Why Standard Life’s move matters to the wider industry
Through initiatives like #LogYourLoAPain, the What Lies Beneath LoAs research, and our work with FLAG (Fix LoA Action Group), we’ve seen first-hand the volume of friction hidden inside the LoA process.
Across the sector, advisers and clients have long endured:
Wet signatures
Scanning and uploading
Multiple portals
Paper and postage
Repeated identity checks
Inconsistent acceptance across providers
These delays compound - not just for advice firms, but for the platform or provider teams trying to verify information with limited tools.
By accepting eIDAS qualified electronic signatures, Standard Life is removing several of these blockers at once. The cryptographic certificate provides the assurance they need, while eliminating the manual steps that slow the process down.
This is exactly the kind of progress the industry has been calling for.
What makes an eIDAS qualified signature different?
Our qualified signatures meet the level of trust and security defined under the eIDAS Regulation - a standard recognised across both the EU and the UK.
Every Pension Lab LoA signed using an eIDAS qualified signature includes:
Cryptographic proof of the signer’s verified identity
Independent timestamping, so the moment of signing is always clear
Tamper-evidence, making any alteration immediately detectable
Qualified signatures are legally equivalent to handwritten signatures — but more secure, more reliable, and far more efficient.
A step forward - with more to follow
Standard Life’s decision to work with Pension Lab reflects a growing movement among providers to embrace trusted digital LoAs and signatures.
By doing so, they are helping to:
Speed up advice and onboarding journeys
Reduce operational workload
Improve the security and auditability of every LoA
Support a more modern and user-friendly pensions ecosystem
We’re genuinely grateful to the team at Standard Life for taking this step and for supporting the evolution of digital LoAs across the industry.
And with more platforms and providers now reviewing their digital signature policies, we’re optimistic that this momentum will continue - making LoAs faster, safer and simpler for everyone.
Scott Phillips
CEO and Founder