The Arkansas 529 College Investing Plan, administered by the Treasurer of State’s office, unveiled a new mobile application for smartphone users July 17.
Arkansas is has the first state-run 529 plan in the country to use an app, according to a news release.
“The Arkansas 529 College Investing Plan allows Arkansas taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 in contributions to an Arkansas 529 account from their Arkansas adjusted gross income taxes,” according to the release.
The plans were established to help parents and grandparents save money for college for schools across the country and some institutions abroad.
“This is a monumental day for our state,” Treasurer Dennis Milligan said in the release. “To be the first state plan in the country to launch an app for their 529 plan just further shows that we are innovative and thinking outside-the-box.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The mobile app will be released in several versions. The first version is 1.0, which will allow Arkansas 529 account owners to view their account balances and transaction history, get deposit and security alerts, and stay up-to-date on news concerning their plans, according to the release.
“One of the things we want to do by creating this app is to be able to share pertinent information with account owners using a tool that almost everyone has – a cell phone,” Milligan said.
Statistics show that 95 percent of Americans own a cell phone. About 77 percent of adults in the United States own a smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center.
Being able to identify and reach Arkansas 529 account owners has been a challenge and a problem that most state-run 529 plans encounter, said Emma Willis, director of the Arkansas 529 College Investing Plan.
“So our thought was to reach out to people where they’re at. Most people have their phones within an arm’s reach of them 24/7,” Willis said.
According to a study by King University Online, Americans spend an average of five hours a day on their mobile devices.
Arkansas 529 teamed up with Central25 App Works of Springdale to create the mobile application.
The app is available at the App Store on a mobile device or by using this link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gift-ar529/id1405894918?mt=8.
Details: www.arkansas529.org.