SecureSave continues to lead the way in emergency savings innovation with first granted patent

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By
Devin Miller
September 7, 2023

As one of the top workplace emergency savings account (ESA) providers operating today, SecureSave understands the importance of having a financial cushion for unexpected expenses. It is our mission as a company to help everyone build and maintain that cushion to help them feel and be more financially secure in life. But like with any savings account, the time and effort it takes to set up an ESA can be prohibitive, which means some companies may be missing out on an opportunity to generate financial stability for their employees.

This is a problem the team at SecureSave is dedicated to solving and to do so we know that it will require leading the way on innovative thinking. As a sign of the innovation our team is developing and a testament to the strides we have made in less than three years, we are thrilled to announce that we have secured a patent for administering and automating a sponsored emergency savings program, an innovative and one-of-a-kind system that simplifies the ESA sign-up and implementation process.

Why did we choose to focus on emergency savings?

While there are many different types of accounts that help wage-earners save for the future, we wanted to target emergency savings as an area of opportunity for sponsored savings plan growth. Retirement savings are important, but many workers already have some kind of retirement plan offered through their workplace.

On the flip side, more than one-third of adults in 2022 could not cover a $400 expense using cash or its equivalent, according to the Federal Reserve. And for young adults between ages 24 to 27, saving for an emergency is more important than saving for the future, in part because they never expect to fully retire from work.

Without an emergency savings account, people experiencing financial stress are much more likely to dip into their retirement savings to cover unexpected expenses. This extends the amount of time it takes to save for retirement, sometimes exponentially depending on how much is borrowed.

The most effective ESAs are both highly focused and easily accessible — the money in these accounts is targeted for emergency spending, and savers can withdraw or transfer those funds at any time, with no penalties or fees.

Leading the way on ESA innovation

To help make ESAs ubiquitous, it is going to require solving some fundamental problems that have made saving so difficult for so many.  Namely, saving for emergencies needs to be easier and more automatic than anything else available.  

For many ESAs, the amount of paperwork or online enrollment time involved is similar to setting up a brand-new bank account at a bank. They involve dozens of fields and clicks, and they might request account and background information that an employee might not have on hand.

We have created an easy-to-use invitation-based system: After an employer validates SecureSave to send their employees the invitation to enroll, the employee can finish the process with just two fields and two clicks. SecureSave offers  a high quality interest-bearing, FDIC-insured ESA, and an account employees can tap into instantly without paying fees or penalties, and that’s easy to build through payroll-linked deposits. 

How else is SecureSave removing barriers to workplace ESAs for employers?

Every day, we work with a range of employers spanning multiple industries to implement workplace ESA programs for their employees. SecureSave’s emergency savings programs  are enterprise-ready, and although the patented sign-up process for employees couldn’t be simpler, we have the knowhow and technical expertise to support complex organizations,back-end program design, and multiple programs and integrations.

This patented platform can serve every kind of employer, from SMBs with little to no human resource staff, to enterprise employers with intricate business models. We know how to design a workplace ESA program that accommodates specific payroll systems and schedules, parallel capabilities, and whatever other needs or features might be particular to your business.

How does integration create efficiencies and support future innovation?

Integrating emergency savings into the workplace can be one of the best ways to encourage employees to open and contribute to an ESA. There’s already a precedent of integrating 401(k)s to help employees save for retirement, and health savings accounts (HSAs) to support workers who carry a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). 

Integrating these complex financial benefits through the workplace and bundling them with other solutions is more successful than offering them as standalone products, especially for HSAs. We have followed this approach when considering how to build workplace ESA programs that best support employers and employees.

SecureSave partners can bundle and effectively integrate a number of solutions into their workplace ESA program, including back-end integration that streamlines enrollment, front-end APIs and integration points, SSO- and API-based capabilities for low-friction user experiences, and working with multiple custodians according to the current enterprise needs.

The SecureSave workplace ESAs also provide rich data and insights around user engagement, savings totals and account withdrawals, and much more.

How can I learn more about administering and automating a workplace ESA?

Ask us! We’re always keen to talk to businesses about how they can generate better benefits for their employees and create engaging, supportive cultures in the workplace.

If you’d like to learn more about ESAs in general, visit the SecureSave blog for details on the benefits of ESAs, why they resonate with workers, and how to implement them.

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Devin Miller

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Devin Miller