A few years ago, the cloud software company Blackbaud decided to launch a strong financial wellness program for employees as part of a broader initiative to attract and retain workers.
But the Charleston, South Carolina, firm quickly realized that its offering was missing something. Heavy on financial education, it lacked actual banking products, tools and services.
So it partnered with Bank of America and became one of the first participants in the megabank's corporate employee banking and investing program. Introduced in 2020, the program provides access to financial advice, perks and transaction accounts to 3.1 million enrolled employees who work at the 250-plus Bank of America corporate and commercial clients that have signed up so far.
It has since become an integral part of Blackbaud's benefits package, said Cary Shealy, senior director of human resources and employee benefits. More than 125 Blackbaud employees have attended each of the last four quarterly education sessions and, of those participating, more than 50% have made changes to their personal finance situations, such as increasing their 401(k) contributions, refinancing a mortgage or opening an emergency savings account, Shealy said.
Blackbaud, which employs about 3,600 people globally, sees the program as serving two key purposes: enhancing workers' financial savviness and enticing those workers to stick around.
"We feel like we have an obligation to provide employees with not only a good benefits program, but an excellent one, so that we do a better job of taking care of them," Shealy said. At the same time, "it's hard to hire people and hard to retain people. So when you've got it right there in your hand — one-on-one banker access, education and you can do all of that within your working day — that's a big part in helping retain some of this high-level talent that we're trying to keep."
Several large banks are offering similar programs to their corporate clients. Well Fargo in San Francisco has "Wells at Work" for corporate employees, with workshops and online webinars geared toward financial wellness. PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh runs "WorkPlace Benefits," which gives business clients and their employees access to PNC products, money management tools and access to bankers via free virtual and onsite meetings.
U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis offers "WorkPlace Banking," which provides certain perks to corporate employees who have U.S. Bank checking accounts, such as discounts on mortgages and closing costs, a reduction in annual safe deposit box rental fees and a free box of checks.
Bank of America's corporate employee banking and investing program is gaining momentum among the 9,500 large and midsize companies served by the bank's global commercial banking segment. The number of such companies signing up for the program has increased by roughly 50 since the start of the year, and at the current pace, total client enrollment could reach 300 by the end of the year, said Aron Levine, president of preferred banking at Bank of America.
Part of the uptick stems from companies' need to differentiate themselves in a labor market where demand exceeds supply. If firms offer benefits their competitors don't have, that's a plus.
Wage increases are part of the attraction and retention story. So too are benefits, Levine said.
"This program is perfectly timed right now," Levine said. "Coming out of the pandemic, we're seeing … a flurry of discussions by companies to at least review their benefits to retain talent."
Bank of America's program is part of the company's broader "Financial Life Benefits" initiative, which combines long-term financial planning such as 401(k)s and health care savings with checking accounts, mortgage discounts and special savings rates that meet more immediate needs. It also offers financial advice at every stage of an employee's career, through both in-person guidance as well as a digital platform offering banking, lending and investing tools.
The idea behind such programs is to bring the "whole bank" to more customers and expand each banks' overall customer base, said John Mackerey, an analyst at DBRS Morningstar.
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"All banks are trying to grow, and they're trying to get more of those [existing] relationships, whether it's the employees of a company or the executive teams that they bank," Mackerey said.
But it is the breadth of offerings that sets Bank of America's program apart from the other banks, according to Wendy Stewart, president of BofA's global commercial banking business.
"What makes us different is the comprehensive nature of what we're able to provide," Stewart said. "It is all-encompassing of any financial needs that employees may have."
The bank is working on more features for the corporate employee banking and investment program, including a digital assistant that will be "a differentiator in the industry," said Lorna Sabbia, Bank of America's head of retirement and personal wealth solutions.
There may also be additions to the program's offerings, Levine said.
The end goal: to help the nation's second-largest bank keep expanding its customer base and deepening existing relationships with both consumers and corporate clients, Levine said.
"This is about creating relationships across banking, lending and investing," he said. "There's no question we're building a pipeline for all of our businesses — consumer, Merrill Lynch, the private bank — and this is one more way we [show] a company why they should work with us."
