| Physical & digital evidenceWhat customers see, receive and touch | - Sales pitch deck
- Pricing calculator
- Digital contract (e-signature)
- Admin onboarding dashboard
- Payroll integration status page
- Plan setup confirmation email
- Compliance testing suite
| - Welcome email or text message
- Digital enrollment invite
- Summary Plan Description (PDF)
- Fee disclosures (PDF)
| - App / web login
- Identity verification flow
- Risk tolerance questionnaire
- Investment selection screen
- Auto-enrollment notice
- Beneficiary form
- Account dashboard
| - Payroll deduction report
- Paystub line item
- Account balance update
- Contribution confirmation email
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| Customer actionsSteps the employer and employees take | Employer / HR admin - Evaluates plan offerings and signs proposal / contract
- Completes plan design wizard: matching rules, vesting schedules, eligibility criteria
- Authorizes a payroll system connection or sets up automated file uploads
- Reviews and approves initial employee census data
| Employer / HR admin - Finalizes the roster upload or enables automatic updates from payroll or the human resources information system
| Employee - Opens account activation link via app or browser
- Completes identity verification and account security setup with multifactor authentication
- Selects contribution percentage or accepts the default auto-enrollment rate
- Selects investment portfolio: target-date fund, model portfolio or custom choices
- Designates beneficiaries and signs digital plan enrollment agreement
| Employer + employee - Employer: Runs payroll with newly configured retirement deductions
- Employee: Reviews first paycheck and checks the dashboard for the pending / cleared contribution
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| Line of interactionFrontstage actionsPeople and systems customers interact with directly | Customer success / onboarding specialist - Conducts kickoff call and reviews compliance and plan design choices
- Verifies business documents and bank details for contributions through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network
- Guides HR admin through payroll system pairing and initial census submission
| Automated platform / notification service - Sends account activation invites to eligible employees
- Delivers statutory notices and disclosures required before plan entry
| In-app support and digital guides - Provides an interactive onboarding flow with fee information and retirement projections
- Answers enrollment questions through a chatbot or live specialist
| Automated platform - Sends notification confirming receipt and allocation of first payroll contribution
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| Line of visibilityBackstage actionsWork customers never see | Implementation & compliance - Configures plan rules, vesting schedules and contribution logic in the core system
- Verifies the business and runs anti-money laundering checks on the employer
- Prepares formal legal plan documents and adoption agreements
- Validates payroll mapping schema for recurring contribution processing
| Data operations - Processes and validates employee census data, including tax identification numbers, dates of birth, salaries and status
- Screens employees against plan entry rules and dates
- Creates pending participant accounts in the recordkeeping database
| Operations & trust operations - Verifies the employee’s identity
- Registers deferral rates and investment elections in the recordkeeping system
- Generates digital confirmation statement and archives signed beneficiary forms
| Clearing & settlement operations - Pulls payroll contribution file and initiates ACH pull from employer bank account
- Reconciles fund batch against each participant's deferral instructions
- Triggers custodial trade execution to buy selected fund shares / fractional shares
- Allocates shares to participant ledger entries once settled
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| Line of internal interactionSupport processesSystems, vendors and infrastructure underneath | - Customer relationship and contract management systems, such as HubSpot, Salesforce and DocuSign
- Business verification and anti-money laundering services, such as Middesk and Persona
- Plan document generation engine
- Payroll system connections, such as Finch, Argyle or custom connectors
| - Data connection to human resources and payroll systems
- Customer messaging services, such as SendGrid and Twilio
- Recordkeeping ledger database
| - Identity verification providers, such as Jumio, Plaid and Persona
- Recordkeeping & clearinghouse engine
- Investment management / portfolio allocation engine
| - Payment processing networks, such as ACH and FedNow
- Connections to custodians and clearing brokers, such as DriveWealth, Apex and Charles Schwab
- Trade execution engine & reconciliation subsystem
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