How Criterion Standards helped Pension Lab create a signatureless Letter of Authority (LoA) service

Pension Lab has used Criterion’s LoA Request Standard to create a provider-ready digital Letter of Authority (LoA) service that removes the need for wet or digital signatures. 

The service gives advisers a consistent way to submit the information providers need, while enabling providers to validate each request and route it directly into their workflows. 

That matters because LoAs remain one of the advice market’s most persistent sources of friction. Different forms, data requirements and provider rules create unnecessary work. Advisers face paperwork, signatures and manual chasing. Providers receive incomplete or inconsistent information that must be checked before they can begin processing. 

Pension Lab set out to change that 

Using the common data structure defined by Criterion’s LoA Request Standard, Pension Lab replaced provider-specific forms and signature-led processes with a standard digital request. 

Authentication verifies the client’s authority without relying on a signature. When connected to a provider’s systems, the service can validate the request instantly and place it directly into the right workflow. 

Scott Phillips, CEO and founder of Pension Lab, said, “We’ve always believed LoAs should be smarter, faster, and better. By using Criterion’s standards, we’re showing there’s a provider-ready alternative. Because it’s standards-based, any digital LoA service like Pension Lab’s LoA platform and Origo’s ULoA solution can integrate. And we’ve taken it further by enabling straight-through transfers. This is proof that the LoA process doesn’t belong in the dark ages – and what is possible today.” 

Standards create room for competition 

The value of a common Standard extends beyond making one LoA service work. 

Technology firms can focus their resources on developing better services instead of repeatedly rebuilding the same fundamental requirements. Providers can connect with multiple digital LoA services through a consistent structure, without becoming locked into one platform or closed route. 

That gives advisers greater choice, while creating the competition that drives technology firms to innovate and deliver better services and more user value. 

For advisers using Pension Lab, this means less paperwork, fewer provider-specific requirements, and fewer requests returned because information is missing or inconsistent. This can create a smoother advice and client onboarding experience. 

For providers, better information from the outset reduces manual validation, avoids unnecessary queries and supports faster routing into internal workflows. 

Talking to this, Criterion’s Strategy and Proposition Director, Nick Green, said, “Pension Lab’s instant LoA request service is a great example of how standards can unlock innovation. By using Criterion’s LoA Request Standard as the foundation, Pension Lab has created a provider-ready service that helps reduce complexity and variation today, while supporting a more scalable and interoperable LoA model for the future.” 

Pension Lab’s instant LoA request service is already in use and is being piloted with several providers. The same standards-based approach is informing further developments, including Pension Lab’s LoA tracking and response engine. 

The case study demonstrates a simple but powerful principle: when the industry agrees the foundations, organisations are set free to innovate, integrate and compete in the ways that work best for their customers. 

Download the case study to see how Pension Lab used Criterion Standards to turn LoA requests into a provider-ready digital workflow.