Products May 1, 2017

Impartial Conduct Standard Vs. Suitability Standard

New fiduciary education programming from LIMRA LOMA SRI is aimed at supporting retirement plan sales and service professionals operating under evolving ERISA standards. 
Reported by

LIMRA LOMA Secure Retirement Institute (SRI) has updated its “Fiduciary Education for Sales and Service Professionals” training series, in response to changes in the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule issued in the Federal Register on April 7, 2017.

The updated course, first launched in October 2016, is an “online training program created to provide essential knowledge about the new rule and its implications for client-facing professionals.”

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

According to the DOL, now under the leadership of the Trump administration, a new “impartial conduct standard” rather than the “suitability standard” will be applied whenever advice is provided to retirement investors. The updated Fiduciary Education for Sales and Service Professionals course “clearly defines the impartial conduct standard and explores the impact to day-to-day business activities.”

“In addition, the new guidance emphasized the expectation for firms to offer training to their sales professionals,” LIMRA LOMA SRI warns. “Within the Federal Register Notice, the DOL advised that companies wishing to avoid citations from the DOL must demonstrate a good faith effort to comply with impartial conduct standards through policies and procedures, including training.”

Paul Henry, managing director, LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, says there are “distinct advantages to having access to a turnkey program that documents course completion.”

“Many companies have less than five weeks to implement a training program that will satisfy the DOL’s expectations,” he notes. “The Fiduciary Education for Sales and Service Professionals course can be installed quickly and easily, allowing their sales professionals the time to complete the course before the deadline.”

Users are presented with a self-paced online curriculum “designed to educate all client-facing employees, including registered representatives, investment adviser representatives, insurance agents, wholesalers, contact center representatives and service personnel.”

More information is available at http://www.limra.com/fiduciaryed/. 

Products May 1, 2017

Transamerica Launches Voice Pass

Once a customer is enrolled in the optional service, he or she simply speaks the passphrase, “At Transamerica, my voice is my password,” to securely access their accounts, without the need for additional passwords, PINs, security questions or subsequent calls.
Reported by

Transamerica is launching Transamerica Voice Pass, a feature developed with Nuance Communications, Inc., that increases security and enhances the customer experience by leveraging voice biometrics technology within a natural language understanding system.

Customers calling Transamerica’s customer care service centers will be able to more easily and securely authenticate and access their accounts while also identifying the reason for their call, simply by speaking. Once a customer is enrolled in the optional service, he or she simply speaks the passphrase, “At Transamerica, my voice is my password,” to securely access their accounts, without the need for additional passwords, PINs, security questions or subsequent calls.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Voice Pass verifies the customer’s voice against his or her unique voiceprint on file and, if matched, access is granted. Voice biometrics analyzes more than 100 physical and behavioral voice characteristics to identify and verify an individual by their unique voiceprint. While effective in reducing acts of fraud, voice biometrics is also 80% faster to authenticate compared to PINs, passwords and security questions.

“At Transamerica, we’re determined to make it as safe, simple and convenient as possible for our customers to interact with us,” says Gerard Rescigno, Transamerica chief technology officer. “Implementing Voice Pass is an extension of that commitment—allowing our customers to communicate with us more easily, and with added security. We’re excited to deliver this innovative and trusted technology to enrich the overall customer experience.”

A video further demonstrating the capabilities of Voice Pass can be accessed here.

«

Thank you so much for your interest in our content. Please register to access this complimentary archived content. By registering, you will receive our newsletter which can be opted out of at any time.

 

Already Registered? Click here to confirm.