Navro partners with MM to tackle pension overpayments

By Vriti Gothi

Navro has partnered with MM to tackle the growing issue of pension overpayments to deceased members, particularly among schemes with internationally dispersed beneficiaries.

Announced in London, the collaboration integrates Navro’s global payments infrastructure with MM’s proof-of-life and existence verification services, creating a closed-loop system that validates beneficiaries before payments are executed. The model is designed to strengthen fiduciary oversight while reducing financial leakage in pension schemes.

The partnership comes amid rising complexity for trustees managing cross-border pension distributions. With more than one million UK pension scheme members living overseas—and the number increasing steadily—verifying the status and residency of beneficiaries has become a persistent operational and compliance challenge. Industry estimates suggest that £511 million in pension overpayments are linked to undetected deaths, highlighting a material risk for schemes, particularly defined contribution plans with strict fiduciary obligations.

By linking identity verification directly to payment execution, the combined offering aims to shift pension disbursement processes from post-payment reconciliation to pre-payment validation. MM’s service includes biometric identity checks, document verification across more than 230 international document types, and multi-channel member engagement spanning digital and physical communications. This is complemented by Navro’s ability to route payments through local rails, ensuring accuracy and timeliness once verification is complete.

A key feature of the model is its emphasis on auditability and governance. The integration provides trustees and administrators with consolidated management information, enabling them to track verification status, payment timing, and supporting evidence for each transaction. This creates a more defensible audit trail in an environment where regulators and stakeholders are increasingly scrutinising governance standards.

Aran Brown, CEO of Navro, said, “Trustees are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that they are taking reasonable, proactive steps to protect members’ money. Paying deceased members, especially overseas, is no longer regarded as an unfortunate inevitability; it is viewed as a preventable failure. By partnering exclusively with MM, we are providing our pension customers with a clear, defensible framework that links robust proof-of-life verification directly to our global payments infrastructure. The benefits extend beyond the schemes themselves. By eliminating the need for repayments during challenging life events, we remove the stress and upheaval for individuals when they are at their most vulnerable.”