Reduction of red tape for income stream reviews
Allocated (account based pension) and market-linked (term allocated pension) income streams are reviewed by Centrelink in August and February each year. Centrelink writes to customers who have these products requesting the current details of their income stream. To provide a better service to customers, Centrelink has arranged to get these details directly from income stream providers through twice-yearly electronic data exchanges. This data exchange replaces the need for Centrelink schedules for the August and February reviews only. Your company's involvement will help reduce red tape for your customers and staff.
On this page
- How can the transfer of income stream data benefit my business?
- Why do we need income stream information?
- How does the electronic data transfer work?
- How do I find out more?
- What have businesses already using income stream data exchanges said about the initiative?
How can the transfer of income stream data benefit my business?
Save time and money
Electronic data transfers between us and your organisation limits the need for our customers to contact you to confirm their income stream details during the August and February account based income stream reviews. This can save you time and money through fewer customer contacts and a reduction in letters to clients during this time.
Improve customer service
This process replaces a letter-based review system and gives you more time to focus on the things that are most important – keeping your customers happy.
Manage your business in a changing environment
Australia’s demographics have changed and organisations now have to change the way they do business. With the 'baby boomer' generation reaching the qualifying age for Age Pension, income stream providers will find themselves dealing with us on a much greater scale than ever before.
Why do we need income stream information?
We need to know how much income customers receiving payments such as Age Pension, Carer Payment and Disability Support Pension draw from their account based income stream products, and the balance in these products.
Every August and February, we send these customers a letter asking them to advise the level of income received, account balance and commutations made from each of their income stream products. For customers this can be a difficult task, as they have to verify their balance, annual income and commutation details. For fund administrators, these reviews mean an increase in customer enquiries and a need to send more letters to customers or their financial advisors.
In consultation with the industry, we have developed an electronic process that reduces this burden for our mutual customers.
How does the electronic data transfer work?
After extensive consultation with superannuation IT providers, we opted to transfer customer data using a 128 bit encryption over a secure government website. IT providers opted for the use of comma-delimited files (.csv) for the electronic transfer. This format is the most widely compatible format for the majority of IT systems and presents a solution that can be easily implemented.
If your IT systems are able to fill a simple spreadsheet of your client data, then it is likely that your fund is ready to benefit from the initiative.
How do I find out more?
For more information, or to find out how your fund could benefit, please contact us:
- phone us on 02 6155 1844
What have businesses already using income stream data exchanges said about the initiative?
'It's something really quite simple; it wasn't that hard to implement. Very easy from our perspective... it's a win for everyone.'
Andrew Griffin – Manager, State Super Financial Services Australia.
'The most important thing from a Q Super perspective (is that) our brand attributes are focused on low fees and real service. So we really saw this as an opportunity to reduce our fees.'
David Wood – General Manager of Operations, Q Super.
'In the industry at the moment it's very competitive, costs are being driven down. It's very important to do things accurately and quicker; and we're trying to reduce the number of calls and emails we receive from customers. We want customers to be satisfied. If our customers are satisfied they're more likely to come back and that's really what we want.'
Matt Paterson – Head of Customer Service Personal Investments, ING.