Participant Websites, Apps Influence Employer Plan Asset Retention

A plan sponsor’s provider choice matters, and the participant digital experience can play an important role in dictating that, according to the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Retirement Plan Digital Experience Study, released today.

Plan participants said that their providers’ apps “significantly” outperformed their plan’s websites when considering design, system performance, tools and capabilities and information content, according to the study. The overall satisfaction score for mobile apps was 724 points out of a 1,000-point scale—53 points higher than the average overall satisfaction score of 671 for plan websites. The specific attributes that help apps outperform websites included: “faster, smoother experiences; better visual appeal and information layout; and the ability to offer more personalized experiences,” J.D. Power reported.

Among employees who rated their retirement mobile app experiences the highest—meaning overall satisfaction was 801 or higher—49% of surveyed respondents said they had a much better view of their employer after using their provider’s digital channel, 50% reported rolling over money from other retirement accounts into their current account and 60% said they would leave assets with the provider in the event of a future job change. In addition, employees who downloaded their plan’s mobile app were 79% more likely to roll over assets from another provider than those who had not downloaded the app.

“If I leave my job tomorrow, that digital experience is almost solely responsible for whether I take that money and roll it into a 401(k) with my next job,” says Eric McCready, J.D. Power’s senior director of digital solutions. “It’s a great way [for providers] to sell [their products] to human resources decisionmakers.”

McCready says the dominance of apps likely stems from a mix of participant preference and providers’ investment into apps.

The app is a “quicker touchpoint,” McCready says. “It’s in your hands, you can check it anytime, and there’s biometric login. … [Providers] have been investing in the apps because that front door is so much easier to open to begin with.”

Provider Rankings

Bank of America, including Merrill Lynch, ranked highest in both retirement plan website and app satisfaction, scoring 775 and 804, respectively, out of 17 companies evaluated. Following in second on both platforms was Charles Schwab (735 points and 768, tied with Fidelity on the app score.) Vanguard ranked third in website satisfaction, with 723 points.

Last year, Bank of America was at the top of the charts as well, with 747 points on J.D. Power’s overall customer satisfaction index, which measured customer satisfaction with retirement plan websites, mobile websites and apps combined.

McCready calls Charles Schwab one of this year’s “movers and shakers,” as the firm moved to second place from fourth place, with 709 points, in 2025.

J.D. Power found a wide gap between the highest-performing and lowest-performing digital offerings. The lowest-performing app platform, run by Empower Retirement, earned 666 points, or 138 fewer points than the top scorer. Voya Financial earned the lowest website score at 623 points, or 152 points below the category leader.

The study revealed that apps and websites scored high marks for security features indicating that participants feel comfortable with authentication protocols and overall account security. In the survey, users reported providers’ apps and websites need work on predictive tools, including digital retirement forecasting and planning capabilities.

J.D. power fielded responses from 6,634 retirement plan participants from May through July.