When in need of emergency funds, lots of employees turn to theirretirement plans for a loan—but that can threaten their eventualretirement security, since sometimes workers fail to pay themback—either because of job changes that escalate the repaymentschedule or due to financial hardship.

But there's another option in town: Kashable, an online loanservice launched last year that provides loans to the employees ofparticipating employers and repaid via automatic payrolldeductions.

While Kashable launched in 2015 as a socially responsiblealternative to high-cost payday lenders, it's now available throughMassMutual Life Insurance Co.'s BeneClick! employee benefitsexchange.