Page 7 - FCW, November/December 2021
P. 7

Trending
Thrift Savings Plan to launch mobile app next year
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board officials recently said a mobile app for the Thrift Savings Plan will go live in mid-2022. The app is part of the board’s Converge Program, which seeks to modernize TSP’s retirement services under its consolidated record- keeping contract.
The board awarded the contract to Accenture Federal Services in November 2020 in a move that con- solidated what used to be several contracts for recordkeeping, contact centers, forms processing and special legal processing services.
The Converge Program’s debut for users will include the mobile app, which will give participants easy access to account functionality, said Tanner Nohe, a program manager at the board. “It’ll enable retirement services on-the-go and basically just creates a new channel for us to have two-way communication with our participants,” he added.
Nohe cited strong consumer demand for the product. In the agency’s 2020
participant satisfaction survey, 62% of respondents said they would use a mobile app to access their accounts. In addition, 57% of those younger than
virtual assistant and virtual chat. The virtual assistant will be available on the TSP website and will use artificial intelligence to answer questions and give interactive assistance. The virtual chat option will answer questions and connect participants to a live agent for more complex issues.
“These are all the packages of the enhanced digital engagement that we’re trying to establish with our
participants,” Nohe said.
In addition, the board plans to
add a mutual fund window to TSP participants’ investment options and will include a search function so they can review mutual funds they might
want to invest in.
Converge will also bring enhanced
security measures. For example, new multifactor authentication practices will include the use of biometrics, such as fingerprint readers and facial recogni- tion. TSP participants can use those bio- metric markers to access their accounts via their mobile devices.
— Natalie Alms
$29,802,431
has been awarded to GSA by theTechnology Modernization Fund to implement an advanced zero trust architecture
40 and 24% of those over the age of 40 said they wanted to interact with TSP via mobile applications.
TSP participants will have other new tools at their disposal as part of the Converge Program, including a
FCW CALENDAR
12/1Health IT
The Office of the
National Coordinator for
Health IT’s Ryan Argentieri, the Government Accountability Office’s Karen Howard and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Leonie Heyworth are presenters at FCW’s 2021 Health IT Workshop. Online
FCW.com/HealthIT
12/10Cloud Computing Washington
Technology’s Power Breakfast focuses on how cloud technology is transforming agencies’ IT strategies and how contractors can adapt.
Online
WashingtonTechnology.com/ systemsintegrator
Nominations for the 2022 Federal 100 awards are due by Dec. 24. To learn more and submit your candidates, please go to Fed100.com
November/December 2021 FCW.COM 7


































































































   5   6   7   8   9