TD Ameritrade / Schwab Transition
The Problem
When Charles Schwab acquired TD Ameritrade in 2020, it kicked off a long, difficult effort across both companies to transition 17 million TDA clients and $2.5 trillion in investment assets to Schwab’s platforms.
Since this $26 billion merger would force the migration of TDA’s satisfied clients to unfamiliar platforms, there was enormous concern about client defection and asset attrition.
The Solution
I led my content teams in the planning, creation, and implementation of content supporting the transition.
A dedicated Transition Center covered questions and details about the migration. An extensive schedule of multichannel, multilingual email and platform messaging kept clients informed of key dates and news. Service interruption messages warned clients of upcoming changes across all TDA trading platforms.
When it came to informing and preparing our clients, no stone was left unturned.
The Results
Prior to the transition, there were estimates suggesting client and asset attrition of 20% or more. What resulted instead was asset and client attrition of between 5% and 6%, with revenue attrition being even lower at about 4%.
The effectiveness of the client transition experience was cited in the press as a big reason for the success of the merger. This was further validated by the clients themselves, more than 90% of whom rated the transition experience as very good to excellent in post-migration surveys.