Summary

After a decade building a leading position in the UK digital pensions market, PensionBee expanded into the US retirement market with an established understanding of how to make pensions simpler and more accessible for customers. The challenge was translating that expertise into a very different retirement landscape.

401(k) rollovers represented an important route for customer acquisition, but the experiences PensionBee would compete against were largely hidden behind the login. BehindLogin helped PensionBee understand how leading US retirement providers handled the rollover journey, capturing real digital experiences from across the market and providing the evidence needed to localise its proposition. The research revealed the steps, terminology, friction and retention tactics US customers encountered, helping PensionBee apply its existing product expertise to the specific expectations and behaviours of the US market.

Challenge

PensionBee entered the US with significant experience simplifying complex pension journeys for customers. But the US retirement system brings its own products, terminology, processes and established customer expectations.

Public websites explain the process at a high level but cannot show what a customer really experiences when logged into their existing retirement account.

To localise its proposition effectively, PensionBee wanted detailed evidence of the journeys already available to US customers: how easy rollovers were to find, what information providers requested, the terminology they used, how many steps were involved and where incumbents attempted to retain assets.

Approach

BehindLogin recruited US consumers with eligible retirement accounts through our Global Research Panel and conducted live screen-sharing research across leading 401(k) providers.

Participants navigated the process of moving an old 401(k) into a new IRA, taking each journey through to the point immediately before submission.

BehindLogin captured and anonymised the complete experience, including:

• every step, screen and information requirement across the rollover journey
• the language and terminology used by each provider
• points of friction, complexity and uncertainty
• retention interventions designed to keep assets with the existing provider
• video recordings showing how customers navigated and understood each experience

The journeys were mapped side by side revealing significant differences between providers and giving PensionBee a clear view of the competitive opportunity.

Outcome

BehindLogin gave PensionBee a detailed view of the market it was entering and practical evidence its teams could use to shape the US proposition.

Localising proven expertise
PensionBee could apply its experience designing digital pension experiences against a detailed understanding of US-specific journeys, terminology and customer expectations.

Real visibility of the rollover market
The research provided a side-by-side view of how major US providers handled one of the most important journeys for PensionBee’s growth.

Clear product opportunities
Recurring friction around findability, terminology, information requirements and process complexity highlighted opportunities to bring PensionBee’s focus on simplicity into the US market.

Practical inputs for product design
Detailed journey maps, screens and participant recordings gave product and design teams direct evidence to inform the development of the US rollover experience.

Greater confidence in localisation
PensionBee gained a clearer understanding of the experiences already available to US customers and where its own rollover proposition could differentiate.