Companies that invest in artificial intelligence (AI) technology are seeing “significant” gains in their digital experiences, Corporate Insight’s latest report reports. Evaluating DC Plan Member Website Experience.
“Implementing AI pays real dividends for early adopters,” says Kara Sostar, head of retirement research at Corporate Insight (CI). “Vendors that invested in AI-driven capabilities across search, virtual assistance, and personalized content delivery in 2024 are seeing measurable improvements this year. Companies that make strategic investments in the right digital areas can quickly create significant competitive advantages.”
Two examples are Fidelity and TIAA, both of which maintained their leading positions from last year’s study. Fidelity retained first place for a third consecutive year with a score of 86 points out of 100 while TIAA came in second place with 85 points. TIAA also took home the top three spots in all six categories, according to CI.
Empower and T. Rowe Price are tied for third place, with 79 points. T. Rowe Price saw a four-point increase over last year thanks to its “Contribution Details” page and “SmartVideo” features aimed at connecting customers with personalized advice.
Although not among the top of the rankings, Transamerica gained five points and moved up three places to reach eighth place.
Across the industry, businesses are investing in their digital experiences, with the average score in CI’s study increasing from 68 to 70 points.
CI recognized AI-based capabilities as the “key differentiator” between top scorers and other rankings. This included Fidelity’s Financial Wellbeing Dashboard, TIAA’s FAQ-style search results, and Alight’s LumenAI summaries, CI observes. “We also saw 14 companies improve their scores in the Support category,” Sostar said. “Virtual assistants remain an area to watch, with AI implementation and expanded help content setting a new standard.”
Other popular features among customers include account information tools, which saw a four-point increase. Eighty-nine percent of respondents also described their account balance information as “very” or “extremely” important.
Other top retirement web features were security settings (87%), privacy preferences (85%), account statements (83%), contribution rates/amounts (83%), transaction confirmations (81%), personal rate of return (81%), and win/loss data (80%), among others.
Corporate Insight’s DC Plan Participant Website Experience Benchmark Study evaluated retirement provider websites using a three-tiered framework of six categories, 28 subcategories and more than 115 attributes covering digital functionality, design, navigation and usability.
Organizations that participated in the DC 2025 Plan participant website experience evaluation were Alight, American Funds PlanPremier, American Funds RecordkeeperDirect, Charles Schwab, Corebridge Financial, Empower, Equitable, Fidelity, Lincoln Financial, Merrill, Nationwide, Principal, T. Rowe Price, TIAA, Transamerica, TruStage, Vanguard, and Voya Financial.
Amanda Umpierrez is the editor-in-chief of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services journalist with nearly a decade of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. She is originally from Queens, New York but now resides in Denver, Colorado.