Survey lauds UNIPASS

The survey provides a chance for Origo to assess the impact the service is having on an intermediary’s working day and to gather valuable user feedback.

Currently used by over 22,000 intermediaries in the UK, UNIPASS is easy to use and provides access to a growing number of financial websites, replacing the need for multiple user names and passwords.

This year the survey was completed by 6,249 users, compared to 4,933 in 2006, clearly reflecting the increasing user base and highlighting considerable growth in the use of online services among intermediaries within the life and pensions sector.

Key findings from the survey include:

  • 87 per cent of users stated that UNIPASS reduces or significantly reduces user administration overheads (79 per cent in 2006).
  • 73 per cent find that UNIPASS increases their daily productivity.
  • 88 per cent agreed that financial websites are easier to use with UNIPASS.
  • 65 per cent of users said they use online services more often now that they have UNIPASS.
  • 88 per cent said that UNIPASS saves them a minimum of up to one hour per week - 22 per cent said it saves them up to three hours per week (19 per cent in 2006) and 3 per cent said up to five hours per week.
The survey results also show that UNIPASS is most heavily used for logging in to provider extranets (96 per cent) followed by log-ins to portals (56 per cent) and for obtaining valuations via back-office software (34 per cent).

Money Partners recently announced its adoption of UNIPASS and intermediaries are now keen to see others launching UNIPASS for mortgage business. The survey has also revealed interest in the service for collective investments, general insurance and healthcare.

Paul Pettitt, managing director of Origo, commented: “This year’s results are impressive and clearly indicate an increase in the usage of online services across the industry. UNIPASS is widely used in the life and pensions industry because it is easy to use, increases both productivity and security, and cuts user administration costs.

"Over the past few years the industry has made a real effort to drive e-business forward. I hope to see the mortgage sector benefit from UNIPASS in much the same way, which will be a focus for us in 2007.”