Individual Annuity Customer Satisfaction Improves as Providers Strive for Ideal Human + Digital Formula

USAA Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Individual Annuity Providers in JD Power Study

• Overall satisfaction with individual annuity providers rises sharply this year, led by Boomers and Pre-Boomers
• Overall satisfaction is highest among customers who use both human and digital interaction channels
• Many annuity providers stumble on delivering a seamless cross-channel client experience

TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For all the talk of digital transformation of the financial services industry, when it comes to annuities, customers are starting to embrace technology, but they are still looking for a human touch. According to the JD Power 2026 U.S. Individual Annuity Study,^SM released today, overall satisfaction with individual annuities rises 14 points (on a 1,000-point scale) this year, driven primarily by Boomers¹ and Pre-Boomer customer segments. Overall satisfaction scores are highest when customers interact with their annuity providers via both digital and human channels, either through an advisor or agent.

“Annuities are complex financial products that require different levels of customer engagement at different points in their ownership tenure, and the providers that are doing the best job building long-term customer engagement and great customer experience are those that are able to manage that relationship seamlessly across both digital and human channels,” said Christopher Lis, vice president of global health and life solutions at JD Power. “While the industry on the whole is showing strong signs of improvement this year, many providers are experiencing challenges getting that cross-channel interaction formula just right. Importantly, annuity providers need to recognize there is still strong demand for the human element in these relationships, and efforts to transition to digital-only will likely miss the mark.”

Following are some key findings of the 2026 study:

• Overall satisfaction rises, driven by older customers: Overall customer satisfaction with individual annuity providers is 653, up 14 points from last year. The increase is driven by improvements across all aspects that annuity customers experience, including digital (+20 points), value for price paid (+17 points) and ease of doing business (+13 points). Older generations are driving the trend with overall satisfaction rising 16 points among Boomers and older customers.
• Digital is important, but human connections still matter: Overall satisfaction scores are highest (672) when customers interact with their annuity providers via both human and digital channels. Average overall satisfaction scores fall to 610 when those interactions are human-only, and to 593 when they are digital-only.
• Cross-channel interactions remain a challenge: Overall satisfaction scores are heavily influenced by advisor communication and digital engagement, but both need to be seamless. When customers strongly agree their annuity provider offers a seamless cross-channel experience, overall satisfaction scores climb to 782. Average overall satisfaction scores decline by 54 points when customers do not strongly agree the cross-channel experience was seamless.

Study Rankings

USAA ranks highest among individual annuity providers for a third consecutive year, with a score of 740. Western & Southern Life (702) ranks second and F&G (689) ranks third.

To view the complete rankings, visit: http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2026113.

The U.S. Individual Annuity Study measures the experiences of customers of the largest individual annuity companies in the United States across eight core dimensions (in order of importance): trust; value for price; ability to get service; ease of doing business; people; product offerings; digital channels; and problem resolution. The 2026 study is based on responses from 5,378 individual annuity customers and was fielded from July 2025 through July 2026.

For more information about the U.S. Individual Annuity Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/u-s-individual-annuity-study/.

About JD Power

JD Power delivers mission-critical data, analytics and intelligence that help businesses improve customer experience and operational performance with confidence and clarity. Using proprietary, comprehensive data–including millions of consumer interactions and authoritative automotive datasets–combined with advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and deep industry expertise, JD Power enables leaders to respond to market shifts, make smarter decisions and drive measurable performance improvements.

As an objective source of deep insight into real-world customer interactions with brands and products, JD Power provides the independent intelligence organizations need to anticipate change, strengthen customer engagement and advance growth. Learn more at JDPower.com.

¹ JD Power defines generational groups as Pre-Boomers (born before 1946); Boomers (1946-1964); Gen X (1965-1976); Gen Y (1977-1994); and Gen Z (1995-2008). Millennials (1982-1994) are a subset of Gen Y.