Name: Embedded insurance and what it means for banks and consumers
Uploaded: 2023-09-27T16:22:36.617Z
Duration: 392.04
Description: Alex Matjanec, Founder of Wysh, joins us to talk about his Best of Show winning demo at FinovateFall 2023, and explores the future of insurance and insurance products and how to bring them to younger generations.

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FinovateFall 2023

Fall.SPINT.011 Alex Matjanec.vtt

English

{{00:00:00}}
Julie Muhn: Hello, and
thank you for joining us.

{{00:00:02}}
My name is Julie Muhn, Senior
Research Analyst with Finovate.

{{00:00:05}}
I am here live at
FinovateFall 2023 in New York.

{{00:00:09}}
Today, I'm joined by Alex
Matjenec, CEO of Wysh.

{{00:00:13}}
Alex, thanks so much for joining us today.

{{00:00:14}}
Alex Matjanec: Thanks for
having me today, Julie.

{{00:00:15}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, so you just
got off the stage from your demo.

{{00:00:17}}
Can you give us some of the
highlights of your demo?

{{00:00:20}}
Alex Matjanec: I think one of the
highlights that I've been hearing is

{{00:00:22}}
that I finished under seven minutes.

{{00:00:23}}
So that was a nice win.

{{00:00:25}}
I think the other big highlight for us was
that how clear our message came across.

{{00:00:29}}
Life benefit and the product that we
were really promoting there was focused

{{00:00:33}}
on helping consumers, excuse me, banks
specifically, attract, retain deposits

{{00:00:37}}
and just differentiate themselves in
a really aggressive deposit market.

{{00:00:42}}
Julie Muhn: Yes, and I'd like
you to dive into that more.

{{00:00:45}}
Tell us more about the inspiration behind
that unique approach of embedded life

{{00:00:50}}
insurance that you showed on stage.

{{00:00:52}}
Alex Matjanec: Core to Wysh is we actually
are our standalone life insurance carrier.

{{00:00:56}}
So that gives us the ability to be
really unique in the products we build.

{{00:00:59}}
Our purpose as a company is to
help bring financial protection

{{00:01:02}}
to as many Americans as possible.

{{00:01:04}}
So we do offer traditional term
life and accidental death policy.

{{00:01:07}}
But what we saw is to fulfill our
purpose, we need to get closer to people's

{{00:01:11}}
money so they can really get a taste.

{{00:01:13}}
Ultimately, I've learned
this over the last two years.

{{00:01:15}}
People hate purchasing life insurance,
but they love getting it as a benefit.

{{00:01:20}}
And when we found a way to embed it
into their core banking experience,

{{00:01:23}}
it ultimately lifted their financial
well being and has made the overall

{{00:01:27}}
experience better for everyone.

{{00:01:29}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, I really
like the way that you did that,

{{00:01:30}}
that you guys embedded it.

{{00:01:32}}
Made it something that they have to
face instead of making something they

{{00:01:35}}
would have to do it on their own.

{{00:01:38}}
So you currently have a
partnership with UNest.

{{00:01:40}}
Can you tell us a little bit more
about that and how it's going?

{{00:01:43}}
Alex Matjanec: It's been a really
fantastic partnership for two key reasons.

{{00:01:46}}
One is they're focused on
custodial accounts, right?

{{00:01:48}}
So new parents are looking to build
an emergency protection for their

{{00:01:52}}
children, and the fact that they can
add this life benefit on top of it.

{{00:01:55}}
So as they grow their deposits for their
children's account once they become 18,

{{00:02:00}}
if something were to happen to them in
that period of time, they know that they

{{00:02:03}}
get a boost on top of that deposit because
that's essentially what life benefit does.

{{00:02:07}}
It sits on top of your deposits.

{{00:02:09}}
It's in the form of a micro life
insurance policy worth one to 10

{{00:02:12}}
percent of your total deposits.

{{00:02:14}}
So it's been really proud and really
connected to consumers so much so

{{00:02:17}}
that it's actually educated them to
see the value in full protection.

{{00:02:21}}
And on average, about five to 10
percent of consumers have been

{{00:02:24}}
upgrading to full protection.

{{00:02:26}}
And so that's been really nice
for us to see that flywheel

{{00:02:28}}
effect and overall interest.

{{00:02:30}}
And it just points to the fact that
you need to introduce people to the

{{00:02:34}}
concept of life insurance, to see the
value of why they need it long term.

{{00:02:38}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, very interesting.

{{00:02:40}}
In today's interest rate environment,
which is obviously an interesting

{{00:02:43}}
time a lot of FIs, they're
focused on growing deposits.

{{00:02:47}}
How do you see your product,
Life Benefit, playing a role?

{{00:02:51}}
Alex Matjanec: I think the key aspect
of this is the savings account we pick

{{00:02:54}}
on that in particular has gone unchanged
for over a century, probably longer.

{{00:02:58}}
And it's been about interest rate,
no fees, and in the app world, be

{{00:03:03}}
able to sign up via, through an app.

{{00:03:04}}
But that message is consistent
with every institution.

{{00:03:07}}
What we want to do is bring a different
story for them, so that they can

{{00:03:10}}
break out of the sea of sameness
by showing them that it's not just

{{00:03:13}}
about helping you grow your deposits.

{{00:03:16}}
It's to help you protect you in that
process because ultimately what is

{{00:03:18}}
the nickname for a savings account?

{{00:03:20}}
An emergency account.

{{00:03:21}}
And so what is a better way
to apply additional emergency?

{{00:03:24}}
Which is why our core partners call it a
double emergency account and that allows

{{00:03:29}}
them just to help tell a different story.

{{00:03:31}}
And we've seen this work very well with
today's consumers because those who

{{00:03:35}}
are attracted towards this product are
actually willing to give up close to 15

{{00:03:39}}
to 30 basis points of interest rate in
exchange for a little bit of protection.

{{00:03:43}}
Yeah.

{{00:03:44}}
And.

{{00:03:45}}
For us as a whole, what we tell
the banks is this your core future

{{00:03:48}}
audience that you're looking
for is most likely a millennial.

{{00:03:51}}
What have they lived through?

{{00:03:52}}
Multiple financial crisis, a pandemic.

{{00:03:55}}
They've had to learn how to build
that protection themselves and

{{00:03:58}}
it's about time and what they look
for is any institution that goes a

{{00:04:01}}
little bit further in that instance.

{{00:04:03}}
It creates what I call a love
mark with that consumer and it

{{00:04:05}}
actually resonates really well.

{{00:04:07}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, that's great.

{{00:04:08}}
It's hard to navigate those
complexities too I feel and so doing

{{00:04:11}}
it for them on their behalf just.

{{00:04:14}}
It's takes away the

{{00:04:16}}
Alex Matjanec: To that point,
what I said on stage is clearly

{{00:04:19}}
institutions believe in life insurance.

{{00:04:21}}
They give it to their
employees as a benefit.

{{00:04:23}}
Why not expand that same
relationship to your consumers?

{{00:04:26}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, that's great.

{{00:04:28}}
So tell us about some of the feedback
from your partners so far and how has

{{00:04:32}}
that influenced your product development?

{{00:04:34}}
Alex Matjanec: Probably the biggest
feedback we've gotten is just

{{00:04:36}}
generally deposits being attracted
to a really older audience.

{{00:04:41}}
And then we're trying to figure out
how to get to this next generation

{{00:04:44}}
on it's like for banks the biggest
fear they have not only to get new

{{00:04:46}}
deposits, but to avoid that transfer
of intergenerational wealth and then

{{00:04:50}}
losing billions of dollars in deposits.

{{00:04:53}}
So that's really where the conversation
goes is how can these things work

{{00:04:56}}
together to help them set themselves
up for success in that way.

{{00:05:00}}
The other feedback we do
get on a consistent basis is

{{00:05:03}}
how do we price this thing?

{{00:05:05}}
How do we integrate it?

{{00:05:06}}
And again, it just comes from
case studies and trial and error.

{{00:05:09}}
What Life Benefit is, a really
streamlined, simple product.

{{00:05:12}}
It only takes 30 days to integrate,
and so they can try different ways to

{{00:05:16}}
utilize it in different marketing message.

{{00:05:18}}
We can either be in the forefront
and using Wysh and the Life Carrier

{{00:05:22}}
as part of this conversation, or we
can be in the background and just

{{00:05:26}}
let the brand offer this benefit.

{{00:05:27}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah.

{{00:05:28}}
Great, so we have time
for one more question.

{{00:05:30}}
How do you see the future of the insurance
industry when it comes to technology?

{{00:05:36}}
Alex Matjanec: If you were to ask an EBC,
they would tell you that the growth and

{{00:05:39}}
future of insurance is embedded insurance.

{{00:05:42}}
And I made the comment earlier, and
I'll say it again, is that people don't

{{00:05:45}}
like buying insurance, but they love
insurance when it's given to them as free.

{{00:05:49}}
And you can see this on credit
cards, you can see this in travel

{{00:05:52}}
expenses and other aspects.

{{00:05:54}}
That's where the industry is going and
how you can work towards that approach.

{{00:05:57}}
Now, does it solve every need?

{{00:05:59}}
It doesn't.

{{00:05:59}}
But if you give people a little bit
of taste, it fundamentally shows

{{00:06:02}}
them why they need to upgrade.

{{00:06:04}}
And that's the story.

{{00:06:05}}
And that's where we see
that experience working.

{{00:06:07}}
It doesn't mean you're giving
up ownership of the customer.

{{00:06:10}}
It just means that you're pushing
it down a little bit by giving

{{00:06:12}}
them a reason to come to you.

{{00:06:14}}
Yeah.

{{00:06:15}}
Julie Muhn: Great.

{{00:06:15}}
All right.

{{00:06:16}}
Thank you so much.

{{00:06:17}}
This has been Alex

{{00:06:18}}
Matjanec, CEO of Wysh.

{{00:06:19}}
Thank

{{00:06:20}}
Julie Muhn: you so much for joining us.

Julie Muhn: Hello, and
thank you for joining us.

My name is Julie Muhn, Senior
Research Analyst with Finovate.

I am here live at
FinovateFall 2023 in New York.

Today, I'm joined by Alex
Matjenec, CEO of Wysh.

Alex, thanks so much for joining us today.

Alex Matjanec: Thanks for
having me today, Julie.

Julie Muhn: Yeah, so you just
got off the stage from your demo.

Can you give us some of the
highlights of your demo?

Alex Matjanec: I think one of the
highlights that I've been hearing is

I think the other big highlight for us was
that how clear our message came across.

Life benefit and the product that we
were really promoting there was focused

on helping consumers, excuse me, banks
specifically, attract, retain deposits

and just differentiate themselves in
a really aggressive deposit market.

Julie Muhn: Yes, and I'd like
you to dive into that more.

Tell us more about the inspiration behind
that unique approach of embedded life

Alex Matjanec: Core to Wysh is we actually
are our standalone life insurance carrier.

So that gives us the ability to be
really unique in the products we build.

Our purpose as a company is to
help bring financial protection

So we do offer traditional term
life and accidental death policy.

But what we saw is to fulfill our
purpose, we need to get closer to people's

Ultimately, I've learned
this over the last two years.

People hate purchasing life insurance,
but they love getting it as a benefit.

And when we found a way to embed it
into their core banking experience,

it ultimately lifted their financial
well being and has made the overall

Julie Muhn: Yeah, I really
like the way that you did that,

Made it something that they have to
face instead of making something they

So you currently have a
partnership with UNest.

Can you tell us a little bit more
about that and how it's going?

Alex Matjanec: It's been a really
fantastic partnership for two key reasons.

One is they're focused on
custodial accounts, right?

So new parents are looking to build
an emergency protection for their

children, and the fact that they can
add this life benefit on top of it.

So as they grow their deposits for their
children's account once they become 18,

if something were to happen to them in
that period of time, they know that they

get a boost on top of that deposit because
that's essentially what life benefit does.

It's in the form of a micro life
insurance policy worth one to 10

So it's been really proud and really
connected to consumers so much so

that it's actually educated them to
see the value in full protection.

And on average, about five to 10
percent of consumers have been

And so that's been really nice
for us to see that flywheel

And it just points to the fact that
you need to introduce people to the

concept of life insurance, to see the
value of why they need it long term.

In today's interest rate environment,
which is obviously an interesting

time a lot of FIs, they're
focused on growing deposits.

How do you see your product,
Life Benefit, playing a role?

Alex Matjanec: I think the key aspect
of this is the savings account we pick

on that in particular has gone unchanged
for over a century, probably longer.

And it's been about interest rate,
no fees, and in the app world, be

But that message is consistent
with every institution.

What we want to do is bring a different
story for them, so that they can

break out of the sea of sameness
by showing them that it's not just

It's to help you protect you in that
process because ultimately what is

And so what is a better way
to apply additional emergency?

Which is why our core partners call it a
double emergency account and that allows

them just to help tell a different story.

And we've seen this work very well with
today's consumers because those who

are attracted towards this product are
actually willing to give up close to 15

to 30 basis points of interest rate in
exchange for a little bit of protection.

For us as a whole, what we tell
the banks is this your core future

audience that you're looking
for is most likely a millennial.

They've had to learn how to build
that protection themselves and

it's about time and what they look
for is any institution that goes a

It creates what I call a love
mark with that consumer and it

It's hard to navigate those
complexities too I feel and so doing

Alex Matjanec: To that point,
what I said on stage is clearly

They give it to their
employees as a benefit.

Why not expand that same
relationship to your consumers?

So tell us about some of the feedback
from your partners so far and how has

that influenced your product development?

Alex Matjanec: Probably the biggest
feedback we've gotten is just

generally deposits being attracted
to a really older audience.

And then we're trying to figure out
how to get to this next generation

FinovateFall

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Alex Matjanec, Founder of Wysh, joins us to talk about his Best of Show winning demo at FinovateFall 2023, and explores the future of insurance and insurance products and how to bring them to younger generations.