The number of telephone Pension Wise appointments arranged increased by 32.6 per cent in Q2 2022/23 to 46,425, while the number of telephone appointments attended has increased 27.5 per cent to 33,374.

New figures from the Money and Pensions Service (Maps) showed a significant increase in face-to-face appointments, although this was a result of face-to-face appointments being suspended until August 2022 as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.

This resulted in a 186,300 per cent increase in Pension Wise face-to-face appointments to 1,864, and a 146,600 per cent increase in face-to-face appointments attended, at 1,467.

Based on these figures, around 72 per cent of Pension Wise telephone appointments were attended, while 78.7 per cent of face-to-face appointments were attended.

The total number of visits to the Pension Wise website also increased compared to the previous quarter, growing from 225,772 to 241,077, while take-up for the Pension Wise self-service journey remained broadly steady, falling 0.8 per cent to 10,299.

The figures are expected to provide some of the first insight into the effectiveness of the stronger nudge, which was introduced in June 2022 to encourage more savers to take advantage of the guidance available to them.

Indeed, the Financial Conduct Authority previously confirmed that the impact of the stronger nudge will be measured primarily through Maps' Pension Wise take-up data, suggesting that the Q2 2022/23 figures will provide "valuable insight on the early impact", as this was the first quarter where the stronger nudge rules have been in force throughout.

The monthly figures revealed a continued increase in the total number of telephone Pension Wise appointments arranged since the nudge was introduced in June 2022, rising from 10,907 in May 2022, the month prior to the nudge being introduced, to 16,086 in August 2022.

Furthermore, while there was a slight dip in telephone appointments arranged in September 2022 to 15,236, this was due to the re-introduction of face-to-face appointments, with 1,164 face-to-face appointments arranged that month alone.

However, customer satisfaction levels were down according to Maps, with self-serve customer satisfaction falling 3.7 percentage points to 77 per cent, while the telephone customer satisfaction fell to 93.7 per cent.

Despite this, the number of customers likely to recommend the service has increased, with 85.4 per cent of self-serve customers likely to recommend the service, alongside 94.9 per cent of telephone customers.

In addition to the broader take-up figures, the dashboard included a breakdown of Pension Wise appointments by region.

This showed that customers in the Southeast made the most telephone Pension Wise appointments so far in 2022/23 at 7,273, while savers in Northern Ireland had only booked 759 telephone Pension Wise appointments,.

Customers in Greater London, meanwhile, booked the most face-to-face appointments for the year to date at 200, compared to just 13 in Northern Ireland, 43 in Wales, and 54 appointments in the North East.

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