Fifth Third Bank Offers SmartDollar Program

Retirement plan administrator Fifth Third Bank announced the availability of Dave Ramsey’s new SmartDollar financial wellness program for its clients’ retirement plan participants.

“We continue to see employers augment their retirement education efforts and overall corporate wellness programs with a component of financial education,” says Sheri Kehren, vice president and program manager of financial workplace wellness at Fifth Third Bank.

Fifth Third Bank and Dave Ramsey have “a long-standing relationship that began in 2010 with the Bank’s sponsorship of Ramsey’s financial education curriculum for high school students.” In February 2014, the bank and Ramsey began a collaboration to offer Ramsey’s CORE Financial Wellness program to the Bank’s retirement plan clients.

Ramsey Solutions announced in January 2015 that the CORE program would evolve into SmartDollar, a holistic financial wellness program designed to educate and inspire employees to proactively take control of their money and get on track for retirement. SmartDollar features a customizable user portal, new online tools and materials, overhauled budgeting software, and updated high-definition video lessons.

Leslie Koenig, vice president of retirement benefits at Fifth Third Bank, says the firm looks forward to giving clients quality financial planning tools and more robust education.

A number of other advisory and plan administration firms have partnered with Ramsey on SmartDollar, including ABG in Illinois and the Fiduciary Plan Advisors team at HighTower.