Cutting New Hire Onboarding from 14 Days to 3: The 2026 Blueprint for Efficiency
Date: 2026-04-02
The landscape of work is shifting, and with it, the expectations for how quickly new employees integrate and contribute. For too long, the two-week, or even longer, onboarding period has been accepted as the norm. This extended phase isn't just an inconvenience; it represents a significant drain on resources, a drag on productivity, and a missed opportunity for rapid growth. In 2026, forward-thinking organizations are recognizing that a fourteen-day onboarding process is an outdated relic.
Imagine shrinking that timeline to a mere three days, not by cutting corners, but by optimizing every step with precision, intelligence, and the right tools. This isn't a fantasy; it's a strategic imperative made possible by advancements in process documentation and AI-powered learning. This article will lay out a comprehensive blueprint for how your organization can drastically reduce new hire onboarding from 14 days to a hyper-efficient 3-day experience, ensuring new team members are not just oriented, but actively contributing, faster than ever before. We'll explore the hidden costs of prolonged onboarding, unveil the pillars of a rapid integration strategy, and detail how modern solutions are transforming the onboarding experience for 2026 and beyond.
The Cost of Extended Onboarding: Why 14 Days is Too Long (and Expensive)
Many organizations overlook the true financial and operational burden of a lengthy onboarding process. It’s not just about the new hire's salary during their "non-productive" phase; it's a cascade of expenses and lost opportunities that impact the bottom line.
Consider a mid-sized SaaS company in Q1 2026, bringing on 5 new Software Engineers, 3 Account Managers, and 2 Marketing Specialists each quarter. If their standard onboarding lasts 14 business days, here’s a conservative breakdown of the hidden costs:
- Salary Burn: For a new Software Engineer earning an average of $120,000/year, 14 days of salary is approximately $4,615. For 5 engineers, that's $23,075 per quarter. Across all 10 hires, with an average salary of $90,000, the salary burn alone for 14 non-productive days is $7,000 per person, totaling $70,000 per quarter, or $280,000 annually.
- Manager & Mentor Time: A significant portion of a manager's or senior team member's time during extended onboarding is spent answering repetitive questions, providing basic tool navigation, and guiding through fundamental processes. Let's estimate each new hire requires 2 hours of a manager's time per day for 14 days (28 hours), and another 1 hour per day from a team mentor (14 hours). If a manager's hourly rate is $75 and a mentor's is $60, that's $2,100 (manager) + $840 (mentor) = $2,940 per new hire. For 10 new hires, this is $29,400 per quarter.
- Lost Productivity from Existing Teams: When experienced team members are constantly pulled away to assist new hires, their own projects and deadlines suffer. This "opportunity cost" is harder to quantify but very real. If senior engineers spend 20% of their time on onboarding support instead of feature development, the delay in product releases or bug fixes can cost tens of thousands in lost revenue or increased churn.
- Delayed Time-to-Productivity (TTP): Beyond the initial 14 days, it often takes weeks or even months for a new hire to reach full productivity. A prolonged initial onboarding phase pushes this crucial milestone back further, delaying their ability to contribute value. Studies indicate that reducing TTP by just a few weeks can result in thousands of dollars in added value per employee annually.
- Increased Error Rates & Rework: New hires, lacking clear, consistent process documentation, are more prone to making errors. These errors lead to rework, requiring additional time from existing staff to correct, which further impacts project timelines and can damage customer satisfaction.
- Higher Turnover Risk: A disorganized, overwhelming, or frustrating onboarding experience is a primary factor in early employee turnover. Replacing an employee can cost 50-200% of their annual salary, including recruitment, training, and lost productivity. If even one extra new hire leaves within the first 90 days due to poor onboarding, the costs skyrocket.
By condensing the onboarding period to 3 days, organizations can drastically mitigate these costs, freeing up budget, manager time, and accelerating new hires' contributions. This isn't about rushing; it's about intelligent design and leveraging modern tools to deliver essential information with unprecedented efficiency.
The 3-Day Onboarding Framework: A Paradigm Shift for 2026
Achieving a 3-day onboarding isn't about cramming 14 days of content into a shorter window. It's about a fundamental re-evaluation of what must be learned immediately, how it's learned, and how to maximize engagement and retention. The goal is to move from passive information consumption to active, guided application within a condensed timeframe.
This framework prioritizes foundational knowledge, critical process mastery, and immediate engagement with core tools, setting a clear path for independent contribution shortly after the initial period.
Day 1: Foundation, Culture & Core Systems Access
The first day is designed to establish a solid foundation, ensure the new hire feels welcomed, understands the company's ethos, and gains access to essential tools.
- Morning: Welcome & Cultural Immersion (2 hours)
- Purpose: Make the new hire feel integrated, understand company values, and know key people.
- Activities: Welcome breakfast/coffee with team, CEO/leadership video message (pre-recorded, easily accessible), company history and values presentation (concise, engaging), introduction to the mission, vision, and strategic goals.
- Outcome: New hire feels connected and understands their role within the larger organizational context.
- Late Morning: HR & Administrative Essentials (2 hours)
- Purpose: Complete all necessary paperwork and understand basic policies.
- Activities: Pre-sent forms reviewed (or digital signing via HRIS), benefits overview (quick video/document access, follow-up Q&A), payroll setup confirmation, basic compliance training (e.g., security awareness, harassment prevention via micro-learning modules).
- Outcome: All administrative hurdles cleared, focus shifts to core work.
- Afternoon: IT Setup & Core Tool Navigation (4 hours)
- Purpose: Ensure full access to all necessary systems and basic proficiency.
- Activities: Pre-configured laptop distribution, IT support check-in, account creation verification (email, Slack/Teams, project management tools like Jira/Asana, CRM, etc.).
- Guided Learning: This is where modern SOPs become critical. Instead of a live IT person walking through every step, new hires follow interactive, step-by-step guides for setting up their dev environment, navigating the CRM dashboard, or understanding the project management interface. These are generated efficiently by tools that convert screen recordings with narration into detailed documentation.
- Outcome: New hire can log in, communicate, and navigate primary work applications independently.
Day 2: Core Process Mastery & Role-Specific Training
Day two dives into the practical "how-to" of the job, focusing on the most frequent and critical tasks a new hire will perform immediately. This day is heavily reliant on structured, easily digestible process documentation.
- Morning: Departmental & Team Structure (2 hours)
- Purpose: Understand the immediate team, its objectives, and key stakeholders.
- Activities: Team meetings (if scheduled), individual introductions, overview of team projects and priorities, explanation of daily stand-ups or team rituals.
- Outcome: New hire knows their direct reporting lines, team dynamics, and current focus areas.
- Late Morning & Afternoon: Critical Process Walkthroughs (6 hours)
- Purpose: Learn the core, recurring processes essential for their role.
- Activities: This is the heart of rapid onboarding. New hires use an internal knowledge base filled with AI-generated SOPs derived from screen recordings. For a Software Engineer, this might include:
- "How to Fork a Repository and Submit a Pull Request."
- "Deploying to Staging Environment."
- "Running Local Unit Tests."
- For an Account Manager: "Logging a New Lead in Salesforce," "Creating a Quote in CPQ," "Processing a Contract Renewal."
- For a Marketing Specialist: "Setting Up an A/B Test in HubSpot," "Publishing a Blog Post," "Scheduling Social Media Content."
- Each SOP is a visual, step-by-step guide with accompanying narration, allowing the new hire to follow along at their own pace, pause, rewind, and practice.
- Outcome: New hire can confidently execute the top 3-5 most critical recurring tasks for their role.
Day 3: Application, Advanced Tools & Initial Contribution
The final day focuses on applying learned knowledge, exploring more advanced tools, and making a first tangible contribution, however small.
- Morning: Guided Practice & First Task (4 hours)
- Purpose: Translate knowledge into action and build confidence.
- Activities: New hires are assigned a low-risk, high-impact introductory task directly related to the processes learned on Day 2. They complete this task using the SOPs as reference, with a designated mentor or buddy available for immediate, short questions. This could be fixing a minor bug, updating customer data, or drafting an internal communication.
- Outcome: New hire successfully completes a first work item, demonstrating immediate value and reinforcing their learning.
- Afternoon: Advanced Tool Exploration & Q&A (3 hours)
- Purpose: Introduce secondary tools and provide an open forum for questions.
- Activities: Exploration of less critical but useful tools (e.g., advanced analytics dashboards, specific design software, internal documentation platforms). A dedicated Q&A session with their manager, HR representative, or a senior team member to address any lingering questions about processes, culture, or career paths.
- Outcome: New hire has a broader understanding of available resources and feels heard.
- End of Day: Onboarding Survey & Future Planning (1 hour)
- Purpose: Gather immediate feedback and outline the next steps.
- Activities: A short, anonymous survey on the 3-day experience, a brief one-on-one with their manager to discuss immediate goals for the next 30-60-90 days, and a reminder about ongoing resources and mentorship.
- Outcome: Feedback loop established, new hire has a clear path forward beyond the initial onboarding.
Core Pillars of Rapid Onboarding
Implementing a 3-day onboarding program requires a strategic shift, built upon several key pillars that prioritize efficiency, clarity, and engagement.
1. Standardized, Accessible Knowledge Base
The bedrock of rapid onboarding is a centralized, up-to-date, and easily searchable repository of all necessary information. This moves away from tribal knowledge or relying solely on individual trainers. Every critical process, policy, and tool usage must be documented in a consistent format.
This isn't just about static text documents. In 2026, a truly effective knowledge base incorporates dynamic, visual elements, allowing new hires to see and hear processes in action. The ability to quickly find the exact information needed, without sifting through outdated files or asking multiple colleagues, is paramount.
2. Visual, Interactive Learning
Traditional text-based Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) often fall short. They can be tedious, difficult to follow, and lack the context of a live demonstration. Visual, interactive learning components are essential for accelerating comprehension and retention. This includes:
- Screen Recordings with Narration: Showing someone how to perform a task is far more effective than just telling them. A screen recording that walks through each step of a software process, accompanied by clear, concise voice narration, mimics an over-the-shoulder training session without requiring a dedicated trainer.
- Embedded Quizzes and Checkpoints: Short, interactive quizzes within or after training modules confirm understanding and identify areas where a new hire might need further review.
- Simulations and Sandboxes: Providing a safe, non-production environment for new hires to practice tasks without fear of breaking anything reinforces learning.
3. AI-Powered Content Creation
The idea of creating hundreds of high-quality, visual SOPs manually for every process across every department is daunting and often impractical. This is where AI-powered content creation tools become indispensable.
Tools like ProcessReel revolutionize this aspect. Instead of spending hours writing, formatting, and illustrating a step-by-step guide, an experienced team member simply records their screen while performing a task and narrates their actions. ProcessReel then automatically converts this recording into a polished, actionable SOP, complete with screenshots, text descriptions, and even highlights of key clicks. This significantly reduces the time and effort required to build and maintain a comprehensive, dynamic knowledge base, making the creation of hundreds of robust SOPs feasible for a 3-day onboarding program.
4. Structured Mentorship & Peer Support
While technology handles the "how-to" of processes, human connection remains vital. A structured mentorship or buddy program ensures new hires have a go-to person for cultural nuances, broader questions, and emotional support. This isn't about teaching specific tasks, but about fostering belonging and providing a human safety net. Mentors can check in daily, answer non-process questions, and help navigate team dynamics.
5. Early Hands-On Application
Learning by doing accelerates mastery. The 3-day framework intentionally integrates practical application from day one. Instead of passive information absorption, new hires are encouraged to immediately interact with systems, follow guides to complete actual (even if low-stakes) tasks, and actively engage with the tools they'll use daily. This builds muscle memory and confidence, transforming abstract knowledge into practical skills.
ProcessReel: The Engine Behind 3-Day Onboarding
Implementing a 3-day onboarding program at scale requires tools that can rapidly create, organize, and deliver high-quality training content. This is precisely where ProcessReel shines as a critical enabler.
Traditional SOP creation is a labor-intensive process. Subject matter experts (SMEs) spend hours documenting steps, taking screenshots, annotating, and then often updating these documents as processes evolve. This bottleneck prevents many organizations from building the comprehensive, up-to-date knowledge bases necessary for rapid onboarding.
ProcessReel addresses this by simplifying the entire process documentation workflow:
- Effortless Capture: An SME simply records their screen while performing a task, simultaneously narrating their actions. This could be "how to onboard a new client in our CRM," "how to approve a purchase order," or "how to generate a quarterly sales report."
- AI-Powered Conversion: ProcessReel's AI takes that screen recording and automatically breaks it down into individual, actionable steps. It extracts screenshots for each action, generates descriptive text, and organizes it into a professional, easy-to-follow SOP. The narration is transcribed and aligned with the relevant steps, providing an audio-visual learning experience.
- Dynamic and Engaging Output: The output is not just a static document. It's an interactive guide that new hires can follow at their own pace. They can click through steps, review specific sections, and see exactly what needs to be done. This visual clarity significantly reduces confusion and errors compared to text-only instructions.
- Rapid Updates: When a process changes, updating the SOP is as simple as re-recording the affected segment. ProcessReel makes maintaining an always-current knowledge base feasible, ensuring new hires are never trained on outdated procedures.
By leveraging ProcessReel, companies can transform their onboarding content creation from a bottleneck into a core strength. The sheer volume of high-quality, visual SOPs required for a 3-day program becomes achievable, ensuring every new hire has access to the precise, visual guidance they need to master their role quickly. This shifts the paradigm, making it realistic to cut new hire training from 14 days to just 3 with AI-powered SOPs. For more insights into this transformation, read our detailed article on Transforming Onboarding: How to Cut New Hire Training from 14 Days to Just 3 with AI-Powered SOPs by 2026.
Implementation Strategy: How to Deploy Your 3-Day Onboarding Program
Transitioning to a 3-day onboarding program is a strategic project that requires careful planning and execution. Here’s a phased approach:
Phase 1: Audit and Document Existing Processes
Before you can optimize, you need to understand what you currently do.
- Identify Critical Onboarding Processes: List every essential task a new hire must perform in their first 30-60-90 days. Group these by role (e.g., Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Customer Support).
- Categorize by Frequency and Impact: Prioritize the processes that are most frequently used, most critical to immediate job function, and have the highest impact if done incorrectly. These will form the core of your 3-day content.
- Engage Subject Matter Experts (SMEs): Work with experienced team members in each department to identify the best way to perform these tasks. They are the holders of the operational knowledge.
- Capture Current State: This is where ProcessReel becomes invaluable early in the process. Ask your SMEs to record themselves performing these critical tasks, narrating each step as they go. This automatically generates the raw material for your new SOPs. Focus on the "happy path" first, then identify common exceptions.
Phase 2: Create Dynamic, AI-Powered SOPs
With your raw process recordings, it’s time to build your robust learning modules.
- Process and Refine ProcessReel Outputs: Review the automatically generated SOPs from ProcessReel. Add context, clarify language, link to related resources, and ensure consistency in terminology.
- Enhance with Multimedia: Embed short video explanations for complex concepts, include diagrams, and link to external training resources where appropriate.
- Structure into Learning Paths: Group related SOPs into logical modules or learning paths tailored to specific roles. For instance, an "Engineer's First Code Commit" path might include SOPs for environment setup, Git commands, code review process, and deployment.
- Integrate Quizzes and Checkpoints: For each module, design short quizzes or interactive checkpoints to test comprehension and reinforce learning. These can be simple multiple-choice questions or "what would you do next?" scenarios. This transformation from static documents to dynamic, interactive training is key. Learn more about this approach in our article: Transform Static SOPs into Dynamic Training Videos: A 2026 Guide to Automated Content Creation.
- Centralize Access: Store all these SOPs in a central, easily searchable knowledge base or learning management system (LMS) that new hires can access from day one.
Phase 3: Design the 3-Day Curriculum
Now, map your curated content to the 3-day structure.
- Allocate Content by Day: Based on the framework outlined earlier, assign specific SOPs, cultural materials, HR forms, and team introductions to each day. Remember the progression:
- Day 1: Company culture, HR basics, IT setup, core tool access.
- Day 2: Role-specific critical processes, departmental overview.
- Day 3: Guided practice, advanced tool exploration, initial task completion.
- Balance Self-Paced with Guided Sessions: While the majority will be self-paced using the SOPs, schedule specific times for live check-ins, Q&A sessions, and mentor introductions.
- Prepare Mentors/Buddies: Brief mentors on their role – to provide cultural context and answer non-process questions, not to teach the technical how-to (that's what the SOPs are for).
- Pre-Boarding Packet: Send a digital pre-boarding packet a week before start date, including welcome message, schedule outline, and any forms that can be completed in advance.
Phase 4: Pilot and Iterate
Launch your new program and continuously improve it.
- Pilot with a Small Group: Test the 3-day program with a small cohort of new hires (e.g., 1-2 per department). This allows for controlled testing and quick feedback.
- Gather Detailed Feedback: Conduct surveys, one-on-one interviews, and observe pilot participants. Ask specific questions about content clarity, pace, technology usability, and overall experience.
- Analyze Time-to-Productivity (TTP): Track how quickly pilot new hires reach their initial productivity benchmarks compared to previous cohorts.
- Refine Based on Feedback: Adjust SOPs, re-record sections with ProcessReel, re-sequence modules, and refine the schedule based on the pilot's insights. This iterative process ensures the program is continuously optimized.
- Scale Up: Once confident in the refined program, roll it out across the organization.
Real-World Impact and ROI (2026 Projections)
Let's revisit our example mid-sized SaaS company. They onboard 10 new employees each quarter (40 annually), with an average salary of $90,000. Their previous onboarding duration was 14 business days.
Old Onboarding Scenario (14 Days):
- Salary Burn (non-productive): $7,000 per new hire x 10 hires = $70,000/quarter.
- Manager/Mentor Time: $2,940 per new hire x 10 hires = $29,400/quarter.
- Total Direct Onboarding Cost (per quarter): $99,400 (excluding lost productivity, errors, and turnover risk).
- Annual Direct Onboarding Cost: $397,600.
New Onboarding Scenario (3 Days with ProcessReel and AI-powered SOPs):
- Salary Burn (non-productive): Reduced to 3 days. Approximately $1,500 per new hire x 10 hires = $15,000/quarter.
- Manager/Mentor Time: Reduced significantly. Manager time drops to 1 hour/day for 3 days ($225), mentor time to 1 hour/day for 3 days ($180). Total $405 per new hire x 10 hires = $4,050/quarter. This frees up 25.3 hours of manager time and 11 hours of mentor time per new hire per quarter, which can be re-allocated to higher-value tasks.
- Reduction in Error Rates: With visual, consistent SOPs, new hires make fewer mistakes in critical processes (e.g., configuring software deployments, logging customer interactions). Let's assume a conservative 15% reduction in errors requiring rework. For a software engineer deploying to a staging environment, this could save 2-3 hours of senior engineer debug time per incident. If each of the 5 new engineers makes just 2 fewer errors per month due to better SOPs, that's 20-30 hours saved per month in a critical engineering function. This significantly impacts the efficiency of engineering and DevOps processes, allowing teams to deliver faster and more reliably. For deeper insights into this, check out Mastering Modern Operations: Your 2026 Guide to Creating Ironclad SOPs for Software Deployment and DevOps.
- Faster Time-to-Productivity (TTP): Onboarding is reduced by 11 business days. If a new hire becomes fully productive just one week earlier, and their annual value to the company is $150,000, that's an additional $2,885 in value generated per person. For 10 hires, this is $28,850 per quarter in accelerated value.
Total Direct Onboarding Cost (per quarter): $15,000 (salary) + $4,050 (manager/mentor) = $19,050. Annual Direct Onboarding Cost: $76,200.
Savings per Quarter: $99,400 - $19,050 = $80,350 Annual Savings: $397,600 - $76,200 = $321,400
This doesn't even account for the intangible benefits:
- Increased Employee Satisfaction: New hires feel more supported, less overwhelmed, and more confident, leading to higher morale.
- Reduced Early Turnover: A positive and efficient onboarding experience is a strong predictor of employee retention.
- Improved Brand Reputation: A smooth onboarding process enhances the company's reputation as a desirable employer.
- Scalability: The ability to onboard new staff quickly and consistently allows for faster organizational growth without bottlenecks.
By investing in AI-powered tools like ProcessReel and adopting a 3-day onboarding framework, organizations are not just saving money; they are building a more agile, resilient, and productive workforce ready for the challenges and opportunities of 2026 and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: Is a 3-day onboarding realistic for all roles, especially highly complex or senior positions?
A1: The 3-day framework focuses on the initial orientation and mastery of core, frequently used processes. It doesn't imply that a new employee will be a fully independent expert in three days. For highly complex or senior roles, the 3-day period ensures they are set up with all necessary access, understand the company culture, meet key stakeholders, and master the foundational processes crucial for their first week. The remaining 90-180 days will then focus on deeper strategic immersion, advanced project work, and specific skill development, supported by a rich, accessible knowledge base of SOPs. The goal is to eliminate the initial "churn" period, allowing them to contribute to their specialized areas much faster.
Q2: How can we ensure the quality and accuracy of SOPs when creating them rapidly with AI tools?
A2: Ensuring quality and accuracy is paramount. While tools like ProcessReel automate the initial conversion of screen recordings into SOPs, human oversight and review are still essential. The process typically involves:
- SME Capture: The subject matter expert (SME) who truly understands the process records it with narration. This is the first layer of accuracy.
- Automated Draft: ProcessReel generates a detailed draft.
- Review and Refine: The SME (or a designated process owner) reviews the AI-generated SOP, correcting any ambiguities, adding context, and ensuring it perfectly reflects the current, approved process.
- Version Control: Utilize robust version control within your knowledge base to track changes and maintain a history of revisions. Regular audits (e.g., quarterly) should be scheduled to review and update critical SOPs, especially as tools or workflows evolve. This blend of AI efficiency and human expertise guarantees both speed and quality.
Q3: What about company culture integration? How is that addressed in just 3 days?
A3: Cultural integration is often a concern with condensed onboarding, but it's not neglected. In the 3-day framework, Day 1 is specifically dedicated to cultural immersion. This includes leadership welcome messages, presentations on company values and mission, team introductions, and understanding the company's history and vision. Crucially, the ongoing mentorship or buddy system (established on Day 1) plays a vital role in organic cultural integration beyond the initial days. While the 3 days provide a strong foundation, true cultural integration is an ongoing process that extends throughout an employee's tenure, supported by team activities, open communication, and leadership example. The initial 3 days simply jumpstart this process effectively.
Q4: Does a 3-day onboarding program eliminate the need for human trainers or managers in the process?
A4: Absolutely not. While AI-powered SOPs significantly reduce the need for repetitive, hands-on instruction for basic tasks, the human element remains critical. The role of human trainers and managers shifts from teaching basic how-to steps to more strategic, high-value activities:
- Mentorship and Coaching: Providing guidance on career development, specific project challenges, and navigating team dynamics.
- Cultural Integration: Sharing insights into team norms, company values, and unwritten rules.
- Complex Problem Solving: Guiding new hires through nuanced situations that aren't easily documented in an SOP.
- Performance Feedback: Delivering personalized feedback and setting performance goals.
- Q&A and Support: Being available for questions that go beyond the documented processes. Managers and trainers become facilitators and coaches, rather than rote instructors, making their time more impactful and satisfying.
Q5: How does ProcessReel handle updates to processes, and how often should SOPs be reviewed?
A5: ProcessReel is designed to make process updates efficient. When a process changes, the designated SME or process owner can simply re-record the specific steps that have changed. ProcessReel can then generate an updated SOP with minimal effort, often replacing only the affected sections rather than requiring a full recreation. This ensures that the knowledge base remains current without significant manual overhead. Regarding review frequency, critical SOPs (those with high impact or frequent use) should be reviewed quarterly or whenever a significant process or tool update occurs. Less critical SOPs can be reviewed semi-annually or annually. Establishing clear ownership for each SOP and integrating review cycles into departmental routines is key to maintaining an accurate, up-to-date knowledge base.
Conclusion
The era of protracted, inefficient new hire onboarding is rapidly coming to an end. In 2026, the competitive edge belongs to organizations that can integrate new talent swiftly, effectively, and with minimal resource drain. Cutting new hire onboarding from 14 days to just 3 is not an ambitious pipe dream; it's a tangible, strategic advantage achievable through a combination of thoughtful process design, a commitment to visual and interactive learning, and the intelligent application of AI-powered tools.
By embracing a framework that prioritizes foundational knowledge, leverages dynamic, AI-generated Standard Operating Procedures, and maintains essential human connection, companies can unlock significant cost savings, accelerate time-to-productivity, and foster a more engaged, confident workforce. The future of onboarding is here, and it's fast, efficient, and incredibly smart.
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