Account balances taken to next level

Retirement account holders at the Principal Financial Group Inc. can now receive weekly text messages outlining their 401(k) balances. The company also has implemented an application so that participants who use iGoogle as their home page can check their 401(k) balances throughout the day when they are on the home page. So far, both programs are exceeding the company's expectations. The Des Moines, Iowa-based company had hoped to have 400 participants sign up for each service. A month after the launch, 782 people have added the application to their iGoogle home pages, and 1,470 have signed up to receive weekly e-mail or text messages that detail their account balances. Active participants like these features because they don't have to go to the company's website to learn their account balances, said Danelle Kronmiller, assistant director of marketing for Principal. For now, the company is monitoring the pilot program for the next six months, and company executives are evaluating whether they want to expand it to include additional types of technology.