LANSING – The Michigan Education Savings Program has launched a new smartphone application that allows investors to instantly manage their accounts free. The application is available for the following devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Palm Pre, Pixi and Blackberry Torch.

“MESP is dedicated to making saving for college as easy as possible, and this new tool, along with MESP’s other technological advancements will allow users to manage their accounts more effectively,” said Douglas Chittenden, President of TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing.

MESP is administered by the Michigan Department of Treasury, which chose TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing Inc. to manage MESP over 10 years ago. Since then, MESP has helped more than 105,000 families invest over $2.5 billion towards college. Smartphones are mobile phones that offer more advanced computing ability and connectivity to the Internet than contemporary, basic feature phones. Users who download the new MESP application can make contributions, view account balances, see recent transactions, withdraw funds, or change their investment options.

According to a new study by ComScore, over 45.5 million people in the United States owned smartphones in 2010 and it is the fastest growing segment of the mobile phone market, which comprises 234 million subscribers in the United States. A new study by International Data Corporation also forecasts annual mobile application downloads to increase from 10.9 billion in 2010 to nearly 76.9 billion in 2014 as developers create applications for virtually every aspect of a mobile user’s personal and business lives.

MESP’s smartphone application is part of an array of technological enhancements introduced to investors during the past year. MESP launched a new consumer friendly website in October, 2010. The new website helps potential investors learn more about MESP and provides account owners more tools to manage their account including online withdrawals and electronic delivery of statements. MESP has also added a College Planner (Calculator) for iPhone and Android owners to project their potential tax savings or their own personal college savings needs.

For potential college savers, MESP now offers additional ways to learn more about the Program online including a recorded webcast, interactive live webinars offered weekly, and webchats aired through WXYZ-TV. The online webinars offer prospective investors a way to learn about the Program and interact with a live presenter from the comforts of their home or at work during lunch.

“These new enhancements will extend MESP’s history of providing a variety of tools and services to assist customers across all communication platforms ? from mail, telephone support, and web” stated Chittenden. “Although we are proud to offer these e-tools for our tech-savvy investors, MESP will also continue to provide a high level of quality and personal service to those investors who still prefer to communicate with a consultant or attend on-site presentations in the community.”

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