Northern Trust announced today that it had introduced a Web-based system for managing the institutional benefit payments process. Northern Trust Benefit Payments PassportSM provides real-time access to participants’ plans, enabling plan sponsors to query and update participant information through the Internet.
Northern Trust processes over 12 million benefit payments a year and files more than 1.3 million tax forms on behalf of its clients. Benefit Payments Passport gives clients a secure and real-time alternative to manual forms, and allows them to initiate stop payments, receive photocopy requests, reschedule pending payments, reissue payments and request duplicate tax forms, all on-line.
“We are excited to be able to provide our plan sponsors with complete automation and flexibility by using this new system,” says Geordan Capes, Vice President and Benefit Payments Client Servicing Manager at Northern Trust. “A vast majority of our clients have already migrated to the new system and the response we are receiving is overwhelmingly positive. Our online access to participant data clearly illustrates Northern Trust’s commitment to applying leading-edge technology in order to make our clients’ lives easier.”
Craig Silver, Technology Systems Administrator for Kern County Employees’ Retirement Association (KCERA) added: “We are pleased with the quick access to our participants’ data. Benefit Payments Passport is very intuitive and easy to use but if we do come across an issue, Northern’s team is right there to resolve the problem. It’s the combination of technology and people that is so important to us.”