Retirement plan websites and mobile apps are falling short of where they need to be. That’s the top-line finding of J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. retirement plan digital experience study.
About 1 in 5 websites (21%) are not meeting basic consumer expectations, flunking what J.D. Powers considers an optimal “foundational experience,” which weighs factors such as basic design, security and key information access.
Just as many are also failing to provide a “valuable experience” or an experience that is personalized and delivered proactively, the study found.
“Falling behind on digital can have very real consequences for engaging and influencing perceptions and behaviors,” said Craig Martin, managing director and global head of wealth and lending intelligence at J.D. Power, in a news release Sept. 12. “Customers who are digitally disengaged are very unlikely to recognize or see value in these efforts, which means a lot of wasted time and resources – as well as reduced business expansion opportunities.”
Charles Schwab ranked the highest in retirement plan digital satisfaction, with a score of 753, followed by Nationwide and Fidelity Investments, which scored 739 and 734, respectively.
Paychex ranked last with a score of 634. Voya Financial and Empower Financial rounded out the bottom three, each scoring 667.
The study found that retirement plan websites and apps underperform those of other industries – including insurance, automotive finance, utilities and banking – when it comes to ease of use and ability to find information.
Nevertheless, the overall satisfaction with retirement-plan digital experiences increased 18 points to 703 on a 1,000-point scale from 2023.
