Products June 16, 2021

John Hancock Mobile App Synched Up to Website

In the palm of their hand, users can access their accounts, income projections, goals and advice.

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John Hancock Retirement today is introducing a new retirement application for participants that is fully in sync with its website, giving participants access to their accounts, along with their balances, additional financial tools and even education and advice tailored to their retirement savings strategies and financial priorities.

“This is much different from what is currently available to participants from competitors,” Sue Reibel, CEO, John Hancock Retirement, tells PLANSPONSOR. “It includes all of the functions of the website” and makes them available on the native capabilities of a mobile device. “This includes biometrics, thumbprint and facial recognition, and the user doesn’t have to remember a password.”

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John Hancock Retirement thinks this is where the evolution of technology is headed, Reibel says. Today, mobile and smartphone users expect financial services apps to include ease of use and biometrics, she notes.

Based on information that customers can voluntarily share with John Hancock Retirement, the app will use “push” notifications to send them reminders of steps they need to take to reach the financial goals they have set.

The net result is that participants’ interactions with the app make them more engaged with their retirement savings accounts, Reibel says.

Research by John Hancock Retirement has found that showing people details on their income and expense projections in retirement prompts 17% more engagement with accounts, as well as 17% more time spent engaged with their accounts, Reibel says. Perhaps even more striking, 94% of users of this app personalize it.

“We think this is a good thing, because it leads to higher savings and better preparedness for retirement,” she says.

The new app uses the existing capabilities of applications that John Hancock Retirement has already rolled out, including the Retirement Income Planner, based on advanced analytics.

“Participants receive individualized guidance and education and can track their progress toward their retirement goals at their convenience in the new app, which we believe adds to better engagement and better outcomes,” Reibel says.

She explains that the app is designed to take users through “layers” of their accounts and goals, and to make important changes to their accounts, such as increasing their deferral rate.

The amazing thing, Reibel says, is all of this can be done “in the palm of your hand.”

Break from the Grind June 16, 2021

Individuals and Employers Aren’t Following Password Best Practices

Twenty percent of employers never require employees to change their passwords, a survey finds.

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A survey in which 2,500 Americans were asked about their password behaviors and tendencies found a fifth of employers don’t regularly require their employees to change their work program passwords.

In addition, the survey by cybersecurity firm PC Matic revealed that nearly one-quarter of respondents use the same passwords for their home and personal accounts. Another example of a bad practice of mixing home with work is that more than half of respondents have admitted to checking their personal emails on work devices, increasing the likelihood of a malicious infection infiltrating a company’s networks.

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Bad password practices exist in both personal and work use. Of those who responded that they have at least one email account, just shy of 30% are not sure when they last changed their password or never have at all.

More than 40% of respondents indicated that they remember their passwords by memory and don’t use a password manager or write them down somewhere. PC Matic suggests this could be the reason such a significant percentage of respondents haven’t changed their passwords or don’t know when they last did. In addition, the firm speculates that this finding indicates individuals are likely using the same password for multiple accounts and that their passwords are most likely not meeting complex password standards.

PC Matic’s survey results in 2020 revealed that as individuals age, they are more likely to write their passwords down. Respondents in 2021 confirmed that as well, with 47.11% of Baby Boomers preferring to write their passwords down compared with 16.63% of Millennials.

Nearly 30% of respondents are using a password manager to safeguard their password information. Millennials, however, lead the respondent groups in both remembering their passwords by memory and in the use of password managers. Nearly 50% of Millennial respondents indicated that they remember their passwords by memory, and just over 35% stated that they use a password manager.

Regarding personal Wi-Fi networks, the survey found nearly 60% of users haven’t changed their Wi-Fi passwords since their networks were set up or don’t know how to do so.

PC Matic suggests that passwords should be a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Users should never reuse passwords on multiple accounts and should create unique passwords and store them in a safe place for remembrance.

For corporate passwords, the firm recommends that businesses issue passwords to their employees. The survey found only 16% of employers issue their employees a password. The overwhelming majority (80%) allow their employees to choose their own passwords, and just 4% of employees have their passwords set by a password generator.

The PC Matic survey report includes top tips for individual users, as well as employers.

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