AZL wanted to create more dialogue and interaction with participants and employers. Communication is becoming more important, and as a pension provider, they want to keep the costs as low as possible. So, if AZL can achieve better, smarter, more efficient and digital (online) communication, they can better serve the participants while also managing the costs for their clients. All this must be in a correct and safe manner, as it involves important and highly confidential information from the participants.
Business Need: AZL wanted to create more dialogue and interaction with participants and employers. Communication is becoming more important, and as a pension provider, they want to keep the costs as low as possible. So, if AZL can achieve better, smarter, more efficient and digital (online) communication, they can better serve the participants while also managing the costs for their clients. All this must be in a correct and safe manner, as it involves important and highly confidential information from the participants.
Solution: AZL partnered with Ciphix to create a modern, customer-centric pension portal built on the Mendix low-code platform. A flexible application layer was added on top of AZL’s core systems, allowing rapid development without compromising reliability. The new portal enables 1.5 million participants to log in securely with DigiD, upload documents, and calculate real-time pension scenarios on their own devices. High-performance computing is handled behind the scenes, eliminating the need for manual scenario calculations by AZL staff. Special focus was placed on the retirement journey, including user research and simplified processes for people approaching pension age. A proactive notification system keeps participants informed of their upcoming payments, reducing uncertainty and improving engagement. The portal was built as a multi-client solution, allowing each pension fund to tailor its own front-end branding. Agile teams and new ways of working helped AZL shift from slow, traditional development to fast, iterative delivery. This setup supports continuous optimisation across the participant portal, employer portal, and other digital services.
Results: The new pension portal delivers a significantly improved customer experience, offering participants transparent and real-time insight into their pension situation. Retirement processes are now clearer and more reassuring thanks to automated notifications and simplified user flows. Manual pension scenario calculations have been fully eliminated, freeing up AZL staff to focus on higher-value advisory work. Development cycles have become faster and more cost-efficient due to Mendix and agile delivery practices. The multi-client architecture removes the need for dozens of separate portals, reducing maintenance and operational complexity. AZL now achieves a better balance between accuracy, reliability, and customer-focused innovation. The approach has proven scalable, with ING’s pension fund becoming the first live user of the pension planner. Early indicators show strong participant satisfaction and improved digital engagement. The new foundation positions AZL to continue expanding and enhancing its digital services at speed.