The retirement provider industry lags the larger financial services sector when it comes to advances in mobile platforms, but plan providers are quickly closing the gap, according to one consultancy.
Corporate Insights, a New York-based consultancy, tracks the technology and communication innovations of 18 of the largest recordkeepers in the space.
The firm's most recent Retirement Plan Monitor report documents the major enhancements to existing mobile platforms, as well as the new mobile offerings the biggest brands in the retirement space have rolled out in the past year.
Corporate Insights began tracking new mobile and tablet applications last year, according to a company spokesperson.
Since then, recordkeepers have been busy expanding their mobile presence to plan participants, the recent report finds.
MassMutual rolled out its new mobile application, while The Principal Financial Group, T. Rowe Price, and TIAA-CREF all introduced new tablet applications for participants in the past year.
Of the firms that already had an existing mobile platform, most added enhancements in the past year.
Charles Schwab and Transamerica added the ability to make transactions via their mobile applications. Fidelity, The Principal Financial Group, T. Rowe Price, and Voya added to their existing mobile transaction capabilities.
