Simple defined contribution pension transfers took an average of 10.5 days to complete last year, according to new data.

Allowing for more complex transfers, the average time was 12.3 days.

This compares to 2023 when overall transfer times were at 14 days, while simpler transfers took 12 days on average to complete.

Over 1.5m pension transfers completed in 2024, worth around £66.7bn, according to the data from Origo. This was a 25% rise from 1.2m transfers worth £52.4bn completed in 2023.

In 2024 around half of all transfers completed in under seven working days.

Anthony Rafferty, CEO of Origo, said most customers expected to see their pension fund appear with their chosen provider in a matter of days from starting the process.

He said: “There used to be a fair amount of concern that ceding providers might try to hold on to funds for as long as possible and this could impact transfer times, but our data shows that’s not the case.

“The narrative of the problems in the transfer arena is largely due to a minority of outliers who still use manual processes and are not taking advantage of the digital world we live in. 

“But thankfully most are doing the right thing for their clients and the very fact that so many firms are prepared to publish their transfer times should help drive others forward. What we need to see now is for those outliers to raise their game, so all customers get a positive transfer experience.” 

Origo’s Transfer Index tracks the pension transfer times of 30 voluntary participants, which it says includes most of the big names in the industry. The transfer index tracks around 80% of all defined contribution pension transfers in the UK market.

Transfer times are measured by how long it takes the ceding provider to transfer the request, including any due diligence and divestment of funds before sending the customer’s money to the acquiring provider.