MLC & Plum announce clearing house solution for Fund Choice - 6 May 2005
Friday, 6 May 2005
SYDNEY: MLC and Plum Financial Services* today announced that they have entered into a strategic alliance with pay roll company ADP Employer Services (ADP) to provide employer clients with a clearing house solution for the introduction of Fund Choice on 1 July 2005.
MLC Head of Platform Services, Mr Paul Maddock said employers were feeling increasingly anxious about being ready for the introduction of super choice on 1 July 2005 as they work out how the choice legislation impacts their business and how they are going to facilitate the payment of superannuation monies to multiple funds.
“We closely investigated a number of different clearing house options before making the decision to partner with ADP to ensure we can offer employers a robust solution that will help them manage the introduction of super choice,” Mr Maddock said.
MLC and Plum will offer the clearing house solution to MLC MasterKey Business Superannuation clients and Plum Superannuation Fund clients.
To deliver the clearing house solution, MLC and Plum have entered into a strategic alliance with the pay roll company ADP Employer Services and will use ADP’s Electronic Payment Service (EPS). EPS has been in operation for 13 years and currently supports more than 5,000 employers and distributes to more than 2,000 payment destinations.
The clearing house facility will have the following characteristics:
• An online interface for clients to upload choice contribution data
• The online interface will be integrated with existing online services and choice payments can be uploaded or entered manually
• MLC and Plum will cover the cost of the clearing house solution for employers subject to some basic conditions, including the requirement for employers to use MLC MasterKey Business Superannuation or Plum Superannuation as their default fund.
Managing Director of ADP Employer Services’ Asia Pacific region, Mr Scott Doyle said “ADP’s Electronic Payment Service is a proven solution that will ensure the efficient and accurate payment of superannuation contributions and transmission of biographical data to service providers. This will replace traditional manual paper processes like making cheque payments or cheque splitting and will remove the need to send paper reports.”
MLC and Plum will accept a variety of payment mechanisms and will also support employers who select an alternative clearing house solution.
“Research commissioned by MLC** has shown that 67% of employers plan to use their payroll company to distribute funds to multiple superannuation providers and we will work closely with our employer clients to meet their chosen clearing house solution,” Mr Maddock said.
MLC and Plum will continue to support employers to get their businesses ready for the introduction of choice.
* Plum Financial Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of MLC Limited and provides integrated superannuation solutions for medium to large Australian corporations.
**ACNielsen Research – Impact of Superannuation choice legislation, January 2005
Further information:
Stacey Mitchell Tamsin Beale
Corporate Affairs Manager Corporate Affairs Manager
MLC Plum Financial Services
02 9966 3035 03 9222 4540
0400 305 446 0418 104 052
About MLC
MLC is the wealth management division of the National Australia Bank. It is comprised of a group of companies, all of which are subsidiaries of the National Australia Bank. MLC provides funds, platforms and services that support the provision of quality financial advice and help people realise and protect their lifestyle goals. Through a vast network of financial advisers, MLC provides quality financial planning services, wealth creation (investments, private banking), wealth protection (insurance) and superannuation solutions to individual investors and corporate customers. MLC also provides corporate and institutional customers with out-sourced investment, superannuation and employee benefit solutions. MLC manages more than $78 billion on behalf of individual investors and corporate customers in Australia (as at Dec 2004).
About Plum
Plum Financial Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of MLC Limited, provides integrated superannuation solutions for medium to large Australian corporations. Purpose-built for the era of member investment choice, Plum’s philosophy is about providing members with a meaningful education experience to help build their knowledge and understanding of superannuation so that they are empowered to manage their financial future. One of Australia’s fastest growing corporate superannuation providers, Plum now administers more than $5 billion of committed assets on behalf 76 clients and approximately 100,000 members.
About ADP Asia Pacific
ADP Employer Services (ADP ES), a subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing Inc., has been delivering outsourced payroll solutions and human resource systems in the Asia Pacific region for almost 30 years. ADP ES has offices globally including Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore and has over 7,500 clients in the Asia Pacific Region. ADP has developed a range of HR and information management support services that go far beyond the regular payment of employee wages and salaries. These services can help ADP clients to increase business efficiency by enabling them to focus on what matters – their core business.
* The information contained in this media release is for media advice purposes only. The contents are true and correct at time of publishing/issuing, however may change over time. For further information about NAB products or rates, please go to Interest Rates, Fees & Charges
