Products February 26, 2015

Fidelity Introduces IRA Match Program

A new program from Fidelity seeks to bring one of the most popular features of 401(k) accounts to individual retirement investors, in the form of a matching contribution.
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Fidelity Investments has introduced a program to motivate investors to accelerate their retirement preparedness through a matching contribution component to qualifying individual retirement accounts (IRAs).

IRA Match, which Fidelity says is the first of its kind in the IRA market, encourages investors to increase their retirement savings by matching annual contributions to new or existing IRAs. Fidelity says its matching contributions to qualifying IRA holders start at one percentage point and range up to 10% for the largest contributors. 

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Lauren Brouhard, senior vice president for retirement at Fidelity Investments, says the company’s research shows an employer match encourages 401(k) participants to save more and contribute regularly. “We wanted to bring this powerful behavioral draw to our IRA customers to not only motivate them to choose a Fidelity IRA, but also to continue growing their savings even more,” she notes. 

The match is available to new or existing customers who transfer a Roth, traditional or rollover IRA to the company. When this occurs, and an individual makes contributions to their IRA over the next three years, Fidelity will match their annual contribution, up to 10%. Direct rollovers from a 401(k) or 403(b) plan are ineligible for the match. So, for example, a customer who transfers $500,000  will earn 10% on future contributions. If a contribution of $5,500 is made in the first year, that customer will receive a $550 match.

Fidelity’s matching structure will be most compelling for the select group of IRA savers able to stock away more than $500,000 annually. This group will get a 10% match. Fidelity explains the matching structure as follows:

  • $10,000 earns 1% match;
  • $50,000 earns 1.5% match
  • $100,000 earns 2.5% match
  • $250,000 earns 5% match; and  
  • $500,000 earns 10% match.

Investors interested in signing up may do so by visiting www.fidelity.com/iramatch or calling a Fidelity representative.

Diversions February 26, 2015

DIY Boarding Looms for Passengers

The industry says improving the way passengers go through various processes is the biggest IT investment priority for airports.
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In other words, printing boarding passes and checking bags are just the start of the growing do-it-yourself movement in passenger processes in airports worldwide, according to the 2014 SITA/ACI Airport IT Trends Survey.

The second-highest investment priority is passenger and airport security, say almost half (47%) of airports that participated in the survey. The report also highlights the importance of the connected traveler: More than 80% of airports plan to invest in self-service and mobile-related projects over the next three years.

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IT spending among airports is set to increase, with 63% of chief information officers surveyed saying that their airport will have more money to invest in IT in absolute terms compared to last year.

Passenger self-service figures big in proposed spending. Among senior IT execs from 106 of the top 200 airport operators globally, more than a third (37%) say they plan to increase the number of check-in kiosks and almost a quarter (23%) plan to make kiosks available for other uses.

Among other findings:

  • Almost one in six (17%) airports check in more than half of their passengers through a kiosk and expect that number to jump significantly by 2017.
  • As almost all (97%) passengers now carry a mobile device, airports plan investments in technologies such as geo-location, near field communication (NFC) and iBeacons.
  • Almost two out of three (60%) airports plan to invest in geo-location programs over the next three years. Of those, 49% plan to invest in NFC technology, 33% will invest in iBeacons and 16% will undertake a wearable technology project.
  • Also during the next three years, the number of airports offering assisted bag drop is expected to rise from 38% to 74%, with unassisted bag drop rising from 16% to 62%.
  • Most airports plan to expand services through mobile apps, with 78% focusing on customer relationship management (CRM), 73% on security wait-time notifications, 72% on way-finding and orientation and 65% on retail services.
  • A total of 65% of Chinese airports already have a major self-service program in place; another 29% are running a self-service pilot project. More than one-third of China’s major airports also revealed that they plan to increase the number of check-in kiosks.

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