Solution builds on supporting short- and long-term savings needs as Voya data finds nearly half of Americans say retirement savings are their only significant emergency fund

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today a new collaboration with SecureSave, a leading workplace emergency savings program, which is now available as an out-of-plan solution to Voya’s Workplace Solutions clients. The new solution builds on Voya’s broader efforts to support employees when fulfilling short-term financial emergency needs.

Voya’s collaboration with SecureSave comes at a time when, according to industry research, more than 1 in 5 Americans have no emergency savings,¹ leading individuals to borrow funds or utilize a credit card when unexpected expenses occur. As a result, when such a hardship occurs, many individuals turn to their retirement savings — with nearly half (47%) of Americans “strongly agreeing” or “agreeing” that their retirement plan savings are the only significant emergency savings that they have,² according to recent research from Voya.

“For many, a lack of emergency savings is putting their retirement at risk. At Voya, we have also found from our own retirement plan participant data that employees without emergency savings are 13 times more likely to take a hardship withdrawal from their retirement account,”³ said Tom Armstrong, vice president, Customer Analytics and Insight, and head of the Behavioral Finance Institute for Innovation at Voya Financial. “Conversely, those with adequate emergency savings save 51% more for their retirement than those who do not.³ For employers, it’s important to recognize that helping support short-term needs today can also help improve employees’ long-term savings goals, and a well-designed workplace emergency savings benefit program can be a critical solution to get there.”

In working together with SecureSave, the program is available to Voya’s clients of all sizes looking to add an emergency savings account solution to their broader workplace benefits and savings program. Offering an after-tax savings solution funded through elective paycheck deferrals, the program offers employers several unique benefits to design a program that meets one’s goals and budget, including:

• Easy deployment and management, including fast employee account activation along with pre-built integration with many major payroll systems to ease the administrative tasks for human resource teams.
• Results that can help improve financial health, with SecureSave data showing a 62% adoption rate and employees maintain an 87% retention rate of their emergency funds within their account on average.⁴
• Advanced reporting, including detailed insights on employee signup statistics, withdrawal reasons and more to support employers in their broader communication efforts to create an impactful solution for their workforce.

“We are excited about our strategic relationship with Voya providing a complete emergency savings solution that’s automated, easy to deploy and impactful,” said Devin Miller, co-founder and CEO of SecureSave. “In these times, we understand the harsh realities of financial unpreparedness. We look forward to assisting Voya’s customers in supporting them with this foundational element of their financial health to help them feel and be more financially secure.”

Voya’s collaboration with SecureSave further supports the company’s broader efforts to address the holistic financial wellness needs of Americans. In addition to providing education and guidance on emergency savings, Voya offers both in-plan and out-of-plan solutions to meet the unique needs of its customers.

“At Voya, we also recognize that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution when it comes to supporting employees with their holistic savings needs,” said Amy Vaillancourt, senior vice president, Workplace Product Development and Architecture at Voya Financial. “In addition to setting up a standalone emergency fund, more employers today are also offering holistic financial wellness solutions to support their employees, including solutions like health savings accounts to offset the burden of eligible medical costs, student loan debt support and expanded offerings for supplemental health insurance. Some of these broader wellness benefits can often go overlooked by employees but, when working together, can play a critical role when it comes to optimizing one’s health and wealth needs.”

The new solution builds upon Voya’s broader suite of innovative resources that support the holistic financial wellness needs of workers. This includes the recently introduced employee homepage dashboard, providing Voya’s Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions individual customers access and visibility to all of one’s Voya workplace retirement plans and health savings accounts in one place.

As an industry leader focused on the delivery of benefits, savings and investment solutions to and through the workplace, Voya is committed to delivering on its mission to make a secure financial future possible for all — one person, one family, one institution at a time.

1. Bankrate’s 2024 annual emergency savings report (Feb. 2024).
2. Voya Financial Consumer Insights & Research survey conducted Jan. 22-23, 2024, among 1,000 adults aged 18+ in the U.S.
3. Voya Financial internal data (Oct. 2020).
4. SecureSave Annual Statistics, 2023.

About Voya Financial^®

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), is a leading health, wealth and investment company with approximately 9,000 employees who are focused on achieving Voya’s aspirational vision: Clearing your path to financial confidence and a more fulfilling life. Through products, solutions and technologies, Voya helps its 15.2 million individual, workplace and institutional clients become well planned, well invested and well protected. Benefitfocus, a Voya company and a leading benefits administration provider, extends the reach of Voya’s workplace benefits and savings offerings by engaging directly with over 12 million employees in the U.S. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work^® Institute, Voya is purpose-driven and committed to conducting business in a way that is economically, ethically, socially and environmentally responsible. Voya has earned recognition as: one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^® by Ethisphere; a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index; and a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About SecureSave

SecureSave is a leading provider of workplace Emergency Savings Accounts (ESA) built specifically to drive high employee participation while delivering measurable improvements to employee financial wellbeing. SecureSave ESA programs have a 62% participation rate due to our easy-to-use mobile and web app, payroll savings automation, employee encouragement, and employer “matching” and incentive programs. SecureSave helps employees avoid unexpected financial emergencies, which results in higher productivity, employee retention, retirement readiness and less on-the-job stress. SecureSave works with leading employers and financial services providers to power workplace emergency savings programs that are easy to administer and deliver category leading results. Learn more at www.securesave.com.

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