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Empower to Offer New Financial Wellness Benefit
Empower Retirement plans to offer participants the ability to manage a greater portion of their finances when they go online to access their retirement account.
Through a new exclusive agreement with Atlanta-based DoubleNet Pay, Empower participants will have a new way to pay household bills, pay down debt and contribute to savings accounts. The service is designed to automatically track employees’ bills and due dates and seamlessly schedule payments around their paycheck cycles. This leaves employees with an exact amount for discretionary spending and sets aside savings based on personal goals.
“One of the first steps toward saving for tomorrow is effectively managing one’s finances today,” says Edmund F. Murphy, III, president of Empower Retirement. “With this innovative new offering, we’re taking the next step to further add value to clients and participants by providing a new vehicle to ultimately help them prepare for retirement.”
The new service, which Empower will begin offering to select clients in coming months, will be an option available to participants in plans using Empower’s suite of automated payroll services.
Brian Cosgray, chief executive officer of DoubleNet Pay, notes that a key benefit to the service is that it builds in the discipline and organization that some busy workers might not have—and thereby reduces the risk that they will face late charges, overdraft fees and related complications.
Participants who sign up for the new service for a moderate fee will be able to interface with the service through the Empower Retirement participant experience. Participant funds are held in an FDIC-insured savings account at DoubleNet Pay’s partner bank and available to them at any time.