Wisconsin state, business and financial leaders launched a state-wide effort to encourage its residents to establish emergency funds through automatic savings accounts, encouraging employers across the state to participate.
‘Wisconsin Saves Automatic Saving Initiative,’ announced by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, is led by its secretary, Kathy Blumenfeld; Sarah Godlewski, the Wisconsin state treasurer; Rose Oswald Poels, the Wisconsin Bankers Association president and CEO; Wendy Baumann, the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation president, and America Saves, a national savings campaign group.
Many Wisconsinites were unprepared for the lasting effects of the pandemic, and thus experienced economic hardship, Blumenfeld said. The automatic savings initiative has a specific focus on employers’ role to promote the importance of emergency savings within their companies, encouraging small- and medium-sized employers to highlight the ease and benefits of automatic emergency savings through split deposit.
“The initiative aligns with the efforts bankers engage in each and every day to help customers achieve their financial goals,” Oswald Poels said. “Establishing an automatic savings program from an individual’s paycheck into a bank account creates a strong foundation upon which individuals can build to achieve financial health.”
Wisconsin employers in any industry or location can join the coalition, and those participating receive free marketing and communication resources for the state-wide campaign, as well as intuitive tools to help employees understand split deposits and the importance of building on their savings.
“The workplace is one of the best places to spread messages about financial well-being because employees trust information provided to them by their employers about financial matters,” Baumann said. “That’s why we are enlisting the support of employers from all over Wisconsin. We believe they play a critical role in improving the financial lives of our residents.”