Open Enrollment Season Brings HSA Opportunities for Financial Institutions

Lake Geneva, WI (PRWEB) September 28, 2005

Thousands of companies nationwide will be offering High Deductible Health Plans/HDHP, along with the new Health Savings Accounts/HSAs, to their employees this fall. Many of these employers are funding these HSAs or offering a dollar for dollar match. For banks and credit unions, this provides a once in a life time opportunity to offer the HSA to their business clients.

“Financial institutions that wish to offer HSAs in 2006 must get set up to offer HSAs now,” said Viki Morales spokesperson for HSA Clearing. “They need to start marketing now, informing their business clients that the HSA can be set up and held locally at their bank or credit union. They may not have to open an account until 2006, but they must begin contacting their customers to let them know they will be able to accept the accounts Once these group HSAs are set up elsewhere, it is difficult to get the employer to change, so it is vital that financial institutions begin educating their customers now during the open enrollment period if they are to capture these accounts."

HSA Clearing’s turn- key HSA set up program for banks and credit unions can have them offering HSAs in a matter of days. The HSA monies can now be deposited locally to better benefit the community and their customers. Financial institutions that take advantage of their HSA set up program receive HSA website, HSA forms, Section 125 plans for employer payroll deductions, and the exclusive HSA Rx Card program with real time pricing, which can also be included for all the financial institution’s customers. For financial institutions that wish to provide investment options to their HSA customers, they now have access to low-cost online brokerage services from optionsXpress, ranked number one by both Barron’s.

Jim Brooks of HSA Clearing said “The one concern that keeps coming up is the tax reporting as some bank and credit unions software isn’t yet set up for this. We have taken care of that issue, and if they need the reporting done, we can do it. We know of one bank that has over 5000 HSAs on the books with an average balance of $1200. If they had waited for the software, they wouldn’t have these accounts and balances on the books. We are working with a credit union now that will be receiving over $2 million a year in deposits from one of their members that will be funding their employees’ HSAs. With the explosion of the HSA market, those that institutions that chose to wait until their software is ready will lose out as they will find that their clients’ HSAs will have been set up somewhere else. Each HSA is different, as no two people spend or save the same on their health care needs, but from the financial institution’s point of view it’s just another savings or checking account. It couldn’t get any easier.”

For more information on how HSA Clearing's turn-key HSA package can help banks or credit unions offer Health Savings Accounts , HSA Clearing, 262-348-1300.

About HSA Clearing

HSA Clearing offers turn-key solutions for banks and credit unions nationwide to initiate and administrate HSA accounts. For more information, visit http://www.hsaclearing.com or call 262-348-1300.

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