Retirement Plan Providers Improve Website Experiences and Financial Planning Tools, Participants Still Want Better Usability: Corporate Insight (CI) Study

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Nov 12, 2024, 08:30 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Defined contribution (DC) plan providers focused on streamlined navigation and holistic financial planning on their websites over the last year, but participants still want more usability improvements, according to new research from Corporate Insight (CI). The 2024 DC Plan Participant Website and Mobile Experience Benchmark reports evaluate 18 leading retirement platforms across hundreds of digital attributes to provide a detailed comparative analysis and identify which factors create the best user experience.

"This benchmarking research shows retirement firms finding new ways to support participants throughout their financial journeys," says Kara Sostar, Retirement Research Manager at CI. "Since the release of the 2023 Benchmark, we have seen an industry-wide push to streamline these platforms so that they can serve as one-stop shops for all financial planning needs."

The research finds that while desktop retirement experiences have improved in the last year, with some firms making big jumps in the annual rankings, the three leaders remain the same: Fidelity (84/100), TIAA (82/100) and Empower (81/100).

"Fidelity retains the top spot, finishing top three for all categories and finishing first in three of them," says Sostar. "TIAA takes second with its strong performance in Transactions and Profile & Settings. Empower finishes third on the strength of its performance in Account Information, the most important category in the Experience Benchmark."

User satisfaction with retirement plan providers is generally high, according to a CI survey conducted for this research, with 87% of respondents saying they were either "somewhat satisfied" or "extremely satisfied" with their provider. But many respondents cited usability improvements when asked what they would change about their plan provider's website. Respondents focused on page layout, menu design, and login flow as areas ripe for improvement.

"The only thing I feel that [my recordkeeper] could do better . . . is maybe simplifying the layout a bit more," said one Millennial respondent.

"I wish it would be simplified," said a Gen X respondent. "Make it easier to understand."

"These areas are where out-of-industry experiences set user expectations," says Sostar. "Plan participants expect navigating their plan provider's site to be as easy as navigating Gmail or Facebook, and we saw that in our survey responses. We find that firms focused on Design & Navigation improvements over the last year and we expect to see that continue."

Methodology

For this edition of the DC Plan Participant Experience Benchmarks, CI surveyed 1,304 retirement plan participants in October 2024 to understand preferences and usage for retirement digital platforms. For the website report, CI analysts made point-by-point comparisons using a comprehensive framework of six categories, 28 subcategories and over 115 attributes covering the functionality, design, navigation and usability of retirement platforms. Each firm's website receives a score on a scale from 1-100, both overall and for each category.

The benchmarks examine the following categories:

Account Information
Design & Navigation
Transactions
Planning & Research
Profile & Settings
Support

Firms covered in the research are:

Alight Solutions
American Funds PlanPremier
American Funds RecordkeeperDirect
Charles Schwab
Corebridge Financial
Empower
Equitable
Fidelity
Lincoln Financial Group
Merrill
Nationwide
Principal
T. Rowe Price
TIAA
Transamerica
TruStage
Vanguard
Voya Financial

About Corporate Insight

Corporate Insight (CI) delivers competitive intelligence, user experience research and consulting services to the nation's leading financial services, insurance and healthcare institutions. As the recognized industry leader in customer experience research for over 30 years, our best-in-class research platform and unique approach of analyzing the actual customer experience helps organizations advance their competitive position in the marketplace.

For inquiries or to interview with an analyst, contact:

Patrick Flood
646-876-7535
[email protected]

SOURCE Corporate Insight