401k and financial services behemoth MassMutual announced on Wednesday that its popular RetireSMART mobile app will now employ facial recognition technology for users of Apple’s iPhone X.
With Face ID, iPhone X unlocks only when the user is looking at it, according to Apple.
Face ID is designed to protect against fraud by photos and masks. Each user’s Face ID information is encrypted and protected by Secure Enclave, so the data doesn’t leave the mobile device and is never backed up to iCloud or anywhere else, according to Apple.
“In today’s mobile world, smartphone users want to apply the latest technology to everything in their lives, including their retirement savings,” Tina Wilson, Leader of MassMutual’s Investment Solutions Innovation, said in a statement. “MassMutual is pleased to allow facial recognition for iPhone X users who already rely on the technology as part of a package of enhancements for our RetireSMART mobile app.”
The RetireSMART mobile app dashboard has also been updated for both Apple and Android smartphones, providing users with more information to better manage their retirement savings.
The new information includes retirement savings balances based on the “as of date” for one, seven, 30 and 90 days; rates of return based on year-to-date contributions by the saver or by employers that provide matching contributions; and retirement savings broken out by assets, including cash, stocks, bonds and overall asset allocation.
RetireSMART app users already could use their smartphones to change how much they automatically contribute to their retirement plan each pay period as well as access information about their total account balance, balances by source and investment, vested balance by source, last contribution amount, asset allocation by investment and their personal rate of return.
In addition, smartphone users who use their thumbprint as a secure password to access their smartphones can do the same to connect with their RetireSMART app.
The availability of facial recognition to iPhone X users and other enhancements is part of a broad mobile technology strategy. The company’s objective is to make it easier for MassMutual retirement plan customers to access information about their retirement savings and provide the tools necessary to help them make the best decisions possible about their progress toward retirement, according to Wilson.
MassMutual is dedicated to continual improvement to make retirement savers’ experience the best, most secure possible, she said.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
