5 ways a financial wellbeing tool can help employees take control

Standard Life’s digital tool, Money Mindset, can help employees take control of their financial world.

The financial decisions your employees make today could make a big difference to their future.

Whether it’s saving for a house deposit, putting away spare change for a rainy-day fund, or increasing their workplace pension contributions whenever they get a pay rise, it’s the present-day decisions that could make a positive long-term impact.

But employees need a decent level of financial know-how, a good understanding of their day-to-day spending, and the resilience to help weather financial storms.

Financial wellbeing means your employees have the financial knowledge and confidence to manage their money and make decisions that could help them achieve their financial goals.

For employers, a financially well workforce can bring benefits such as increased performance and productivity, fewer financial-related staff absences and higher retention rates.

Unfortunately, findings from our Retirement Voice 2023 research show that financial wellbeing is at a low point:

41% feel positive about their financial situation
61% feel confident making financial decisions
54% feel comfortable that they understand financial products

Meanwhile, research by REBA reveals that only 20% of large companies have a well-developed strategy in place to support their employees’ financial wellbeing.

We want to make it easier for employers to empower their workforce and help them feel more in control of their money.

That’s why we’ve partnered with Moneyhub Financial Technology to provide Money Mindset, a real-time open finance platform that helps support employee financial wellbeing.

Digital tool

Money Mindset is a digital tool that Standard Life workplace pension scheme members can download and access from their mobile, at no additional cost.

This makes it a valuable resource that employers can promote as part of their financial wellbeing strategy or wider benefits package.

Unlike banking apps it shows more than just credit cards or savings accounts. Money Mindset gives employees a bird’s eye view of their entire financial world – including their pension savings.

The platform is also designed to make it easier for people to manage their money and develop healthy habits. Employees can check in on their everyday spending, create savings goals, and boost their financial knowledge – all whilst on the go and in their downtime.

Here’s 5 ways the app can help emloyees:

1. Financial accounts in one place

At the core of Money Mindset is open finance technology. This works by allowing employees to connect all of their financial accounts into one place, including bank accounts, savings, pension plans, credit cards, mortgages.

This means that employees can see all their money in real time and get a snapshot of their entire finances. This could help them feel more in control and make more confident decisions about their money.

2. Bitesize financial education

Money Mindset helps cut down on complexity with jargon-free financial education that aims to simplify a range of topics, from how to manage household bills to budgeting in retirement.

3. Personalised dashboards

The tool uses real-life, real-time data – based on employee interactions – to create a personalised dashboard that brings together spending activity, upcoming payments and budgeting goals in one place. This provides an at-a-glance view of recent and short-term financial activity, helping them plan ahead more effectively.

4. Improving financial resilience

Research by The Money and Pensions Service reveals that 11.5 million people have less than £100 in savings to fall back on.

To help build employees’ financial resilience, Money Mindset includes an emergency cash fund builder. Every time employees add money to their pot, Money Mindset will automatically update progress – making it easier for them to see how close they are to reaching their goal.

They can also use our benefits finder tool to see which benefits they could be eligible for, and how much they could be entitled to, based on the information they provide.

5. Locating lost pensions

To help reconnect employees with missing pension savings, Money Mindset includes a Pension Finder tool. This works by connecting to employees’ LinkedIn profiles and picking out their employment history, and using this data to search the government’s pension tracing service.

For further information and insights on supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, go to Standard Life’s Financial Wellbeing hub and read our articles.