The companies will work with a group of nonprofits focused on consumer financial health to build then test savings products on their employees, BlackRock said in a statement.

The program will be funded by BlackRock's previously announced $50 million commitment to its emergency savings initiative, the asset manager said.

A number of companies have in recent years taken steps to encourage employees to fund emergency accounts as they respond to data that suggests a large percentage of American households are ill-prepared to deal with a financial emergency.

A recent Federal Reserve report on the economic wellbeing of American households found that about 40% of Americans would struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed