Scottish Widows has completed the migration of more than 3.8 million customers onto a new digital platform, marking a major milestone in its ongoing transformation programme.
The life and pensions arm of Lloyds Banking Group said the digital overhaul replaced multiple legacy systems and will now offer customers a faster, simpler service.
The transformation was carried out in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and leverages the TCS BaNCS administration platform, managed by Diligenta, a UK-based life and pensions provider and a subsidiary of TCS.
Scottish Widows entered a 15-year partnership with TCS in September 2017 with the aim of simplifying its operating model, enhancing customer experience, and reducing risk by consolidating policy administration onto a single, modern platform.
The new system supports the administration of existing Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and Open Ended Investment Company (OEIC) products, while also enabling future digital servicing capabilities for customers.
The TCS BaNCS platform is a digitally enabled, end-to-end administration solution that manages life, pensions, and investment products. It currently supports over 20 million policies in the UK and features open architecture, an integrated business rules engine, comprehensive data management, imaging, and workflow tools.
Donald MacKechnie, chief operating officer and managing director, Longstanding at Scottish Widows, said: “We have reached an important milestone in our transformation programme, and our ongoing relationship with Diligenta and TCS. We look forward to continuing to enhance customer experience by providing customers with better and faster service, enabled by digitisation.”
The migration is part of a wider trend in the UK pensions and life insurance sector, where providers are investing in digital transformation to streamline operations, reduce costs, and respond to evolving customer expectations for digital-first services. According to recent industry reports, such large-scale migrations present significant operational and regulatory challenges, but are seen as essential for remaining competitive in a rapidly changing market.
The company says the platform will provide end-to-end policy administration services for around 4 million customers, in line with the original partnership announcement. Customers are expected to benefit from improved self-service options, quicker processing times, and enhanced security as a result of the new digital ecosystem.
