HR departments are being encouraged to save employees an average of £300 a year by adopting utility switching services from Mercer Harmonise.
Entering territory typically dominated by price comparison sites and personal finance media, Mercer Harmonise says average employee savings of £210 a year on electricity and £310 a year on dual fuel bills because they have not switched providers. Mercer’s data shows that, on average, employees could reduce their electricity bills by 18 per cent and their gas bills by 22 per cent by switching.
Mercer Harmonise analysed data from 330 users of its latest service, a price comparison tool that allows employees to find the best provider across a range of services.
The service, which aims to help employees take control of their finances, has been developed by Mercer Harmonise in partnership with digital data provider Runpath.
Mercer Harmonise has also launched a digital filing cabinet that allows users to safely and securely store all their documents in one place. The cabinet takes information users have previously selected or entered in Harmonise, such as pension plans and insurance policies, and allows the user to digitally add documents, which are then available to access from any device.
The digital filing cabinet generates automatic reminders for renewal or rebroking of existing policies. The platform can use the prepopulated data to prompt users to use the price comparison service to compare deals on gas, electricity, current accounts, savings accounts, mortgages, loans and credit cards.
Mercer partner Niall O’Callaghan says: “Time is a precious commodity for employees, we are aiming to provide a range of benefits that drive convenience and simplify life but do not increase cost for the employer.”
“We know that financial demands are making employees stressed and impacts on engagement and productivity and it’s our goal to do what we can to help HR departments counter that,” said Niall O’Callaghan. “The launch of our Digital Filing Cabinet and the price comparison tool are just the latest steps in helping HR departments improve the health and wealth of their employees.”
Runpath director J-P Wilkins says: “We are delighted to partner with Mercer as we jointly develop new innovations that take advantage of our data driven technology services, enabling people to engage with their money more effectively and more easily and making employee benefits part of their wider financial world. The unique integration of the digital filing cabinet and comparison services inside their overall Harmonise account demonstrates how powerful our platform can be when a partner has ambition and vision focused on the end consumer.”