The article serves as a guide for employees to register for their Emergency Savings Account (ESA) through Vestwell.
Note: For the best registration experience, we recommend using Google Chrome on a laptop or desktop. Please note that we only support the current and previous major versions of browsers. You may use older versions of browsers to access the platform, but the experience may be affected.
1. Begin Registration
There are a few ways to get started with the registration process:
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Click on this link: https://connect.vestwell.com/register?recordKeeperId=6.
- Click on the link in the welcome invitation sent to your email address with the subject line "Register for your Emergency Savings Account.”
2. Verify Your Identity
The registration process begins by entering some personal information to verify your account. You will enter your social security number, date of birth, and last name. After entering this information, click Begin Registration.
If the information you enter does not match the details your employer has provided to initiate your account, you will receive an error message saying, “We do not recognize the information provided. If you think this is an error, please reach out to your employer to get this corrected.” If you receive this message, please follow this instruction and reach out to your employer.
If the information you enter has already been used to register for an ESA account, you will get an error message indicating, “The provided information has already been used to register. Login to access your account.” From here, you may select the Login button to sign into your account.
3. Verify Your Company Name and Your Personal Home Address
Next, you will be asked to verify the name of your employer. You should select your company name from the list of options and then click Verify Company. If you do not see your company name listed, please contact your employer.
Then, you’ll need to verify the home address where you have lived in the past or where you currently live. Please select your home address from the list of options and then click Verify Address. If you do not see your home address listed, please contact your employer.
Note: If your company name or home address is incorrectly selected three times, your registration will lock after the third attempt, and you will need to reach out to help@vestwell.com to proceed.
4. Enter Your Contact Information
After verifying your identity, you'll be asked to provide your contact information, including your name, personal email address, and phone number. After entering these details, click Continue to Account Setup.
5a. Create Your Account Login Information
To continue setting up your account, you will need to create your login information.
Set up your email:
Your login email should already be pre-populated with your personal email from the previous step. However, if you would like to set a different login email address, you can select the Edit button to the right of the “Login Email” field. Once you are all set with your login email address, select Continue to create a password.
Set up your password:
A password is required to log in to your ESA account. Be sure to select a secure password that is difficult for others to guess but easy for you to remember. You must select a password that adheres to the rules listed on the screen following “Your password must.” You will be asked to enter the password twice for confirmation. After creating your password, select Create Account to continue.
5b. Connect Your Retirement Account and ESA Account
If you already have a retirement account with Vestwell, enter the same email and password that you use for your retirement account to register for your ESA for a single login experience. Then click Connect Accounts. Your new ESA account and existing retirement account will be linked through one single login email and password.
When you connect your accounts, you’ll be able to access both your retirement and emergency savings accounts with a single login from the same dashboard, as shown below.
If you forget the password for your Vestwell retirement account, resetting your password is easy. Just click on Forgot your password? and follow the instructions. For the best experience, don’t close out of the tab you are using on your website browser to register for your ESA. Instead, you can return to this tab to input your new password once retrieved.
6. Set Up Two-Factor Authentication
After you enter your password, you will be prompted to set up two-factor authentication to add an additional layer of security to your account each time you log in. You can choose between authentication via an app or phone number. Follow the steps on the screen to set up your two-factor authentication for login. For more directions on setting up two-factor authentication, check out our article here.
7. Continue to Your ESA Portal
Now that you have set up 2-factor authentication, click Continue to your portal to finish your ESA onboarding.
8. Acknowledge Agreement with the ESA Terms and Conditions
In order to access your ESA portal, you will need to check the boxes to acknowledge your agreement with the ESA terms and conditions. The blue text displayed on your portal screen links to the various terms and conditions agreements for your review. Once you are finished reviewing the terms and conditions, first check the box that says “I have read, understood, and consent to E-Signature Disclosure,” and then check the box that says “I have read, understood, and consent to Truth in Savings Disclosure, Fee Disclosure, and Saver ESA Agreement.” The boxes must be checked in this order to proceed. Then click Agree and Continue.
9. Acknowledge Agreement with the Vestwell Platform Terms and Conditions
You will also need to agree to the Vestwell “Platform Terms of Use.” Once you are finished reviewing the terms, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Agree and Continue.
10. Verify Your Identity
In this last step, Vestwell uses Plaid to perform a quick identity check based on the information you and your employer have provided. You will see a brief loading screen while we perform this identity verification before you are brought to “Account Setup.”
Note: In some cases, you’ll be asked to provide a bit more information to verify your identity. Follow the steps on the screen to complete verification. If verification is unsuccessful, you will be able to continue onto your ESA portal, but you will need to complete the identity verification before you can make or receive any contributions. To continue the verification process, select Click here to get started on the pop up shown in your portal to complete your identity verification. If you require additional help, you can always reach out to help@vestwell.com.
If you need any assistance while registering for your ESA, please reach out to Vestwell directly at help@vestwell.com.