TIAA rolls out first-in-industry mobile app for plan sponsors

Scott Blandford, the chief digital officer at TIAA, has little interest for what he calls “technology theater.”

After spending most of the past two decades leading online and technology rollouts at some of the biggest names in the financial services industry, Blandford is more convinced than ever that when it comes to designing digital-based solutions for retirement savers, less is more.

“Our customers really appreciate simplicity,” said Blandford, who has been at TIAA since 2010.

For years, TIAA, like much of its competition in the defined-contribution recordkeeping space, has offered plan participants a mobile application to complement its online platform through which savers can manage retirement accounts.

But until now, plan sponsors and administrators have not had the same convenience. At a recent client forum, TIAA rolled out a mobile version of its PlanFocus web platform for sponsors and plan administrators.

Blandford says it is the first effort in industry to bring the functionality of mobile applications to sponsors.

“What’s good for our customers guides our decisions behind product developments,” he said. “We wanted to bring the same conveniences our participants enjoy to plan administrators. Our plan sponsors are on the go just like everyone else—they are mobile in their work lives.”

Blandford and his team spent six months developing the app, which is available to TIAA’s 15,000 sponsor clients through the Apple and Google App stores, and another six months test marketing with clients.

“We thought long and hard about which capabilities would be usable to administrators,” he explained. “I learned years ago—getting it right in digital means getting the big things right, like a product launch, and the little things right to make sure people can benefit from the experience.”

Sponsors can dial up each participant’s account and track activity, like loan requests. Cuing fiduciary filing dates and nondiscrimination testing tools are also among the capabilities.

Loan requests can be authorized when plan administrators are away from their desks, and specific inquiries from plan participants can be addressed when benefits administrators are commingling with colleagues outside the benefits department, an occasion common within the universities and hospitals TIAA serves, says Blandford.

“A lot of our plan administrators work closely with their colleagues. When people are ready to talk about retirement, they are ready to talk about the retirement,” he explained. With a mobile capability in hand, administrators can field more participant questions, and participants will have the benefit of having more access to benefits leaders.

During the pilot program, TIAA found some administrators used the app daily. TIAA’s participant mobile application is seeing voracious consumption. Blandford expects the app for sponsors will get heavy usage.

TIAA will be able to track which features of the mobile app are best serving administrators and have the ability to streamline its design. Over the past several years, Blandford and his team have made continuous improvements to the online platforms for sponsors and participants. As much as 50 percent of online content directed to participants has been paired. The result has been higher customer satisfaction scores.

“Simplifying the experience is huge for people,” added Blandford.