Beyond FTP "Benefits" RewardsPlus Customers

RewardsPlus of America, of Baltimore, MD, is a national, "a la carte" benefits company specializing in optional benefits programs for organizations all across the country. Reversing recent trends of declining corporate benefit packages, their innovative program provides both employers and employees the freedom to supplement their existing benefits package in a way which best fits their company and personal lifestyles.

The RewardsPlus program is a collection of products and services provided by "partners" such as AT&T, Transamerica Assurance Company, and Zurich Kemper which may include anything from cellular phones to automobile insurance. Employers may offer these services to their employees at no charge to the employers. Employees can pay for these optional services in several ways, including payroll deduction. As RewardsPlus began expanding their benefits program to include more products and services, they needed a better way to manage the complex flow of data between the various companies on the system and RewardsPlus. They turned to the Beyond FTP from Automated Programming Technologies, Inc., of Howell, MI.

In the past, available technology made an offering such as the RewardsPlus plan difficult, if not impossible. The task of automating the movement of data between employers, the RewardsPlus "Portfolio Partners," and RewardsPlus itself fell to Eric Hollis, Interface Manager of RewardsPlus. Hollis explains, "We knew that automating the process was definitely key to our program’s success. We move employee data files back and forth between ourselves, the employers, and our partners daily. By using the built-in scripting of Beyond FTP, we are able to easily control the flow of the employee data files for all parties involved. In addition, Beyond FTP allows us to utilize existing intranet, Internet, or dial-up connections that an employer might already have in place. This flexibility allows us to easily add new employers to our program at little or no cost to the employer. This helps us meet our zero-cost objective."

"Our employers also appreciate the built-in redundancy that Beyond FTP adds to the system," adds Hollis. "Beyond FTP never gives up. That’s very important to our business. I guess you could call it ‘hands-free administration.’"

Frank Longwell, Vice President of Marketing for RewardsPlus agrees. Says Mr. Longwell, "Our program provides a way for employers to extend their benefits plan by allowing their employees to choose products and services from our nationally recognized Portfolio Partners at no cost to the employer. The real key was making the system appear as seamless as possible for all of the different companies involved. With Beyond FTP, we are able to make the complicated interaction simple. We call it our ‘ease of doing business.’"

Please visit RewardsPlus of America at www.rewardsplus.com for more information about their products and services.