Name: Embedded insurance: Use cases and partnerships in action
Uploaded: 2023-07-04T08:36:08.442Z
Duration: 644.27
Description: Alex Matjanec, Founder & Head of Purpose & Vision, Wysh, shares his vision for embedded insurance and exciting use cases where financial institutions can truly benefit customers. Stay up to date with the community on https://finovate.com/ Find out more about FinovateSpring on http://www.finovatespring.com/

Alex Matjanec interview.mp4

Alex Matjanec.vtt

English

{{00:00:05}}
David Penn: Hello and
welcome to Finovate TV.

{{00:00:06}}
My name is David Penn.

{{00:00:07}}
I'm a research analyst with Finovate.

{{00:00:09}}
Joining me today is Alex Matjanec
he is the founder and head of

{{00:00:12}}
purpose and vision with Wysh.

{{00:00:14}}
Alex, thanks very much
for joining us today.

{{00:00:16}}
Alex Matjanec: Thanks for having me.

{{00:00:19}}
David Penn: I wonder if we could start
by having you tell us just a little

{{00:00:21}}
bit about the inspiration behind
wish its unique approach to embedded

{{00:00:25}}
life insurance and maybe how that
model embedded life insurance differs

{{00:00:30}}
from the traditional model of life
insurance and then maybe some of the

{{00:00:32}}
advantages of that offers to consumers.

{{00:00:35}}
Alex Matjanec: Sure.

{{00:00:35}}
So ultimately Wysh was born
out of 10 years of my career

{{00:00:39}}
spent in the FinTech space.

{{00:00:41}}
Focused on helping customers
become financially independent.

{{00:00:44}}
And in that period of time it
was inclusivity and accessibility

{{00:00:48}}
was core to that story, but
what was missing was protection.

{{00:00:51}}
And I realized that if we can layer
in protection while they're focused on

{{00:00:54}}
that, we ultimately setting up these
customers and these Americans for success.

{{00:00:58}}
And that is what, led us
to borne and create Wysh.

{{00:01:02}}
And Wysh's purpose is how can you
live your life to the fullest while

{{00:01:06}}
feeling financially protected?

{{00:01:08}}
And if you think about that model and what
its goal is, it ultimately sits in the

{{00:01:12}}
background, two people living their lives.

{{00:01:16}}
And for us to replicate that,
we needed to get as close to

{{00:01:19}}
people's money as possible.

{{00:01:20}}
And that's what led us to this
story of embedded insurance.

{{00:01:24}}
Today we do offer direct
to consumer product.

{{00:01:27}}
It is the ability to underwrite  with
no medical where you can apply

{{00:01:31}}
for term life or accidental death.

{{00:01:32}}
And that's an amazing product.

{{00:01:34}}
But there is millions of Americans
today who can't even afford

{{00:01:37}}
that, who need protection.

{{00:01:39}}
And so to fulfill our purpose,
we wanted to get closer.

{{00:01:41}}
And that's what's fundamentally
different with embedded insurance

{{00:01:44}}
compared to traditional life insurance.

{{00:01:46}}
Where it is a direct relationship.

{{00:01:48}}
It is about purchasing
and paying premiums.

{{00:01:50}}
We're trying to find a way to
connect to consumers through

{{00:01:53}}
the banking and financial
institution systems as a benefit.

{{00:01:57}}
David Penn: I'm wondering if maybe
you could talk to us a little

{{00:01:58}}
bit about one of the partnerships
in the recent partnerships.

{{00:02:01}}
That Wysh has been engaged with and I
think those with UNest could you talk

{{00:02:04}}
about how that came about and, what
it means for both of your companies?

{{00:02:07}}
Alex Matjanec: Yeah, really
excited by this partnership.

{{00:02:09}}
We actually just launched about
a month ago, and what's exciting

{{00:02:12}}
about it is that our overall goals
of helping Americans are aligned.

{{00:02:17}}
We're just taking different
approaches to get there.

{{00:02:19}}
UNest's mission is to help parents
build a future for their children.

{{00:02:24}}
And as I just mentioned, as we think
about our purpose, which is to ride the

{{00:02:28}}
coattails of that by adding a layer of
protection, it really brought synergies

{{00:02:33}}
to our two purposes and ultimately
brought new value to their members.

{{00:02:37}}
And the way that works is.

{{00:02:39}}
Today, their members pay a fee to
get access to a number of tools

{{00:02:42}}
and trading platforms to help grow
that benefit for their children.

{{00:02:48}}
But in that journey, if something
were to happen to them and they

{{00:02:51}}
were to pass away, their child
or love would not only just get.

{{00:02:54}}
The balance that they were able to
grow, but a boost between one and 10%

{{00:03:00}}
in the form of a life insurance policy
so that they know that they're getting

{{00:03:03}}
a little bit closer to achieving
that financial freedom, that they've

{{00:03:06}}
been working hard for their children.

{{00:03:08}}
And we just think that synergy and
fitting into that story, It's what

{{00:03:12}}
makes that partnership so exciting.

{{00:03:14}}
David Penn: A really excellent example
of, the kind of synergy you mentioned

{{00:03:17}}
that can be meshed when you have these
two innovative companies working together.

{{00:03:21}}
I wonder if we could talk a little bit
more about the model of embedded life

{{00:03:23}}
insurance, particularly its capacity
to, influence the broader innovations

{{00:03:28}}
that are happening in the financial
world, particularly with regard to

{{00:03:30}}
banks and financial institutions
that might be able to take advantage

{{00:03:33}}
of some of these technologies.

{{00:03:34}}
Alex Matjanec: Yeah.

{{00:03:35}}
Right now the banking space is
going through a really, unique

{{00:03:37}}
transition and transformation.

{{00:03:39}}
You half the institutions are trying
to continuously own the customer,

{{00:03:43}}
and the other institutions are
going into what's really embedded

{{00:03:45}}
finance space, and so they're also
adopting this embedded approach, but.

{{00:03:51}}
In both cases, the challenge that
institutions are faced with is trust.

{{00:03:56}}
If you look at the number one reason
why there's at risk with their customers

{{00:03:59}}
is that the customers ultimately
are saying these institutions are no

{{00:04:03}}
different than the one that's next door
or that's online, and that I don't feel

{{00:04:08}}
that they're aligned with my needs.

{{00:04:09}}
And that's really created back in 2008
when the financial crisis started,

{{00:04:14}}
where people needed to work hard to
protect their own money, to go out of

{{00:04:17}}
their way, to ensure that they were
protected, that institutions weren't

{{00:04:21}}
as focused on helping them there.

{{00:04:22}}
Now, through technology
institutions have built on that

{{00:04:25}}
story of how to bring security.

{{00:04:28}}
We see this.

{{00:04:29}}
Through mobile security, through
identity theft and fraud and being

{{00:04:34}}
able to lock your debit card.

{{00:04:36}}
But what we were missing from
that story is protection.

{{00:04:39}}
So as the 360 story that institutions
are really pushing to tell,

{{00:04:44}}
much like we saw with you nest.

{{00:04:45}}
We help bring that level of
protection to that story in a

{{00:04:49}}
really seamless and easy way.

{{00:04:51}}
And what gets them excited
is the inclusivity that our

{{00:04:53}}
products offer to them as well.

{{00:04:56}}
David Penn: So we've talked a
little bit about partnerships today.

{{00:04:58}}
I wonder if you could discuss some
of the challenges that you faced when

{{00:05:01}}
working with some of your partners,
and importantly, some of the ways

{{00:05:03}}
that you overcome those challenges.

{{00:05:06}}
Alex Matjanec: Yeah, the core challenge
that we faced, it was really built

{{00:05:08}}
around how unique embedded insurance is.

{{00:05:10}}
Most specifically, how unique life benefit
is in the life insurance space of bringing

{{00:05:14}}
that to fine institutions, which was them
asking the question, are you offering a

{{00:05:19}}
solution for a problem that I don't have?

{{00:05:22}}
And what we needed to do was
educate them that they did have this

{{00:05:25}}
problem and they were just thinking
about it potentially incorrectly.

{{00:05:29}}
And a great example that we face all
the time is around overdraft fees.

{{00:05:32}}
I do offer my customers protection.

{{00:05:34}}
I offer them overdraft
protection, and what we have to

{{00:05:36}}
show them is that's security.

{{00:05:38}}
That is protection, but it's
coming from a place of people

{{00:05:41}}
not being in a happy place.

{{00:05:43}}
They don't want to be there.

{{00:05:44}}
No one's excited to be in a
situation where they're overdrafting.

{{00:05:48}}
Yet, if we're able to bring true value to
protection, it's in a form that builds as

{{00:05:53}}
consumers make smart financial decisions,
and that's exactly what life benefit does.

{{00:05:57}}
As they grow their savings, they can see
that their life benefit grows with it.

{{00:06:02}}
And that's because life benefit
is a percentage of their savings.

{{00:06:05}}
And so seeing both numbers go up creates
a positive user behavior, helps the

{{00:06:10}}
customer feel qualified, and it ultimately
great brings trust to them with their

{{00:06:14}}
relationship with the institution.

{{00:06:16}}
So ultimately the challenge we had was to
give them the sense that if you're there

{{00:06:22}}
trying to build trust with your customers,
create a habit of growing deposit.

{{00:06:27}}
This is the type of protection
you need to be focused on.

{{00:06:30}}
And that's when they were able to overcome
and see, oh, this solution is solving

{{00:06:33}}
a challenge and a problem we have.

{{00:06:35}}
And it's got them very excited.

{{00:06:37}}
And today we've spoken to over
a hundred institutions and that

{{00:06:40}}
has really resonated with them.

{{00:06:41}}
And we're excited to see this
kind of push it forward and

{{00:06:44}}
get it into market with them.

{{00:06:47}}
David Penn: A second ago about
speaking with institutions and

{{00:06:49}}
some of the people that you.

{{00:06:50}}
You've worked with, I'm wondering if
maybe you could share a little bit

{{00:06:52}}
of that feedback with us from some
of your customers and maybe tell us

{{00:06:55}}
a little bit about how that feedback
influenced your strategy going forward.

{{00:07:00}}
Alex Matjanec: Yeah, so you know,
ultimately we, our customer is

{{00:07:03}}
the institution, and that's who
we're selling the policy too.

{{00:07:06}}
But they are offering that opportunity
that benefit to their end customer

{{00:07:10}}
or account holder, remember.

{{00:07:11}}
And so I'll talk about
it from both angles.

{{00:07:13}}
When it comes to the end account holder.

{{00:07:15}}
Remember right off the bat for them it's.

{{00:07:18}}
They see it as almost a
double emergency fund.

{{00:07:20}}
They see that, wow, there's an extra
level of protection that our institution,

{{00:07:23}}
my partner bank, is actually thinking
about me because they know that the

{{00:07:27}}
unknown could always come about,
and we want them to be prepared.

{{00:07:30}}
So there's that case.

{{00:07:31}}
Additionally, 106 million Americans
and growing are underinsured and

{{00:07:37}}
uninsured, so they're looking at
ways to become more protected.

{{00:07:40}}
And ultimately what we find is
that people don't hate insurance.

{{00:07:44}}
They hate paying for insurance.

{{00:07:46}}
And so when you, but if you give it to
them as a benefit, they really value it.

{{00:07:50}}
They trust, they build huge loyalty and
brand connections through that model.

{{00:07:54}}
And so we see that win there.

{{00:07:56}}
On the actual policy holder or
the institution who we're working

{{00:07:59}}
with, it's the implementation.

{{00:08:02}}
It is how quickly it is with you, nest.

{{00:08:03}}
What the biggest successes is.

{{00:08:05}}
We went from kickoff to actually
in market in 30 days, and as you

{{00:08:09}}
can imagine, an embedded insurance
product going live within 30 days.

{{00:08:13}}
It's almost unheard of.

{{00:08:15}}
And that was a massive win.

{{00:08:16}}
And when we show the institutions how
seamless that process is, it gets them

{{00:08:20}}
really excited because the, in the
end, they're able to bring exclusivity,

{{00:08:23}}
sorry, inclusivity and a feeling of
safety that ultimately they weren't

{{00:08:31}}
able to offer before, without having
a major technical lift together.

{{00:08:35}}
David Penn: I wonder.

{{00:08:35}}
Finally, how do you see the future of
the life insurance industry developing,

{{00:08:39}}
particularly with regard to some of
these innovations we're seeing in

{{00:08:42}}
embedded finance from, FinTech, and
most importantly, what role does Wysh

{{00:08:45}}
play in that future as you see it?

{{00:08:48}}
Alex Matjanec: Yeah I, would say this at
the beginning, the core element of life

{{00:08:52}}
insurance where you are underwritten
and you're buying large policies.

{{00:08:56}}
200,000, 2 million, that is gonna continue
to hold true, and it's going through

{{00:09:00}}
its own level of evolution, and that is
really driven by automated underwriting

{{00:09:04}}
and more, it's more of accessibility
than individualizing and personalizing.

{{00:09:10}}
What microinsurance, what this
embedded insurance is doing is we're

{{00:09:13}}
getting closer to people where their
core focus is at, which is again, is

{{00:09:17}}
how do I make sure that I'm building
a lifestyle that I can fulfill.

{{00:09:21}}
Fill either for myself or for my family
through smart financial decisions.

{{00:09:25}}
And if you think about life
insurance as a whole, its

{{00:09:29}}
product is a long-term contract.

{{00:09:31}}
It is about building a
long-term relationship.

{{00:09:34}}
And if we can bring that closer to
individuals on their day-to-day banking

{{00:09:38}}
needs, we think it will build a deeper
connection with those customers.

{{00:09:41}}
And then when they're ultimately ready
to upgrade to fuller protection, so they

{{00:09:45}}
ultimately feel protected throughout their
whole life, that element will be there.

{{00:09:49}}
The agent will be there, the
direct-to-consumer platforms will be there

{{00:09:52}}
that fit what that customer needs is.

{{00:09:54}}
So I think they are separate swim lanes.

{{00:09:57}}
That are working really nicely together
and complimenting each other for

{{00:10:02}}
the goals of just bringing awareness
and adoption to the value of life

{{00:10:06}}
insurance in the market today, more
than combating with another or changing

{{00:10:11}}
how people think about life insurance.

{{00:10:13}}
David Penn: Interesting.

{{00:10:14}}
Very interesting.

{{00:10:14}}
Our perspective and various way of closing
off our conversation about embedded

{{00:10:18}}
finance in the life insurance industry.

{{00:10:20}}
I'd love to thank you for joining us and
sharing some of your insights on a very,

{{00:10:24}}
interesting aspect in terms of digital
transformation with embedded finance

{{00:10:27}}
in a really under-recognized sector in
terms of life insurance and seeing how

{{00:10:30}}
the two, those combined together with
some innovations, I think really gonna

{{00:10:33}}
be excited to see in the years to come.

{{00:10:35}}
So thank you again for
being a part of  FinovateTV.

{{00:10:37}}
Really appreciate it.

David Penn: Hello and
welcome to Finovate TV.

Joining me today is Alex Matjanec
he is the founder and head of

Alex, thanks very much
for joining us today.

David Penn: I wonder if we could start
by having you tell us just a little

bit about the inspiration behind
wish its unique approach to embedded

life insurance and maybe how that
model embedded life insurance differs

from the traditional model of life
insurance and then maybe some of the

So ultimately Wysh was born
out of 10 years of my career

Focused on helping customers
become financially independent.

And in that period of time it
was inclusivity and accessibility

was core to that story, but
what was missing was protection.

And I realized that if we can layer
in protection while they're focused on

that, we ultimately setting up these
customers and these Americans for success.

And that is what, led us
to borne and create Wysh.

And Wysh's purpose is how can you
live your life to the fullest while

And if you think about that model and what
its goal is, it ultimately sits in the

background, two people living their lives.

And for us to replicate that,
we needed to get as close to

And that's what led us to this
story of embedded insurance.

Today we do offer direct
to consumer product.

It is the ability to underwrite  with
no medical where you can apply

But there is millions of Americans
today who can't even afford

And so to fulfill our purpose,
we wanted to get closer.

And that's what's fundamentally
different with embedded insurance

It is about purchasing
and paying premiums.

We're trying to find a way to
connect to consumers through

the banking and financial
institution systems as a benefit.

David Penn: I'm wondering if maybe
you could talk to us a little

bit about one of the partnerships
in the recent partnerships.

That Wysh has been engaged with and I
think those with UNest could you talk

about how that came about and, what
it means for both of your companies?

Alex Matjanec: Yeah, really
excited by this partnership.

We actually just launched about
a month ago, and what's exciting

about it is that our overall goals
of helping Americans are aligned.

We're just taking different
approaches to get there.

UNest's mission is to help parents
build a future for their children.

And as I just mentioned, as we think
about our purpose, which is to ride the

coattails of that by adding a layer of
protection, it really brought synergies

to our two purposes and ultimately
brought new value to their members.

Today, their members pay a fee to
get access to a number of tools

and trading platforms to help grow
that benefit for their children.

But in that journey, if something
were to happen to them and they

were to pass away, their child
or love would not only just get.

The balance that they were able to
grow, but a boost between one and 10%

in the form of a life insurance policy
so that they know that they're getting

a little bit closer to achieving
that financial freedom, that they've

And we just think that synergy and
fitting into that story, It's what

David Penn: A really excellent example
of, the kind of synergy you mentioned

that can be meshed when you have these
two innovative companies working together.

I wonder if we could talk a little bit
more about the model of embedded life

insurance, particularly its capacity
to, influence the broader innovations

that are happening in the financial
world, particularly with regard to

banks and financial institutions
that might be able to take advantage

Right now the banking space is
going through a really, unique

You half the institutions are trying
to continuously own the customer,

and the other institutions are
going into what's really embedded

finance space, and so they're also
adopting this embedded approach, but.

In both cases, the challenge that
institutions are faced with is trust.

If you look at the number one reason
why there's at risk with their customers

is that the customers ultimately
are saying these institutions are no

different than the one that's next door
or that's online, and that I don't feel

And that's really created back in 2008
when the financial crisis started,

where people needed to work hard to
protect their own money, to go out of

their way, to ensure that they were
protected, that institutions weren't

Now, through technology
institutions have built on that

Through mobile security, through
identity theft and fraud and being

But what we were missing from
that story is protection.

So as the 360 story that institutions
are really pushing to tell,

We help bring that level of
protection to that story in a

And what gets them excited
is the inclusivity that our

David Penn: So we've talked a
little bit about partnerships today.

I wonder if you could discuss some
of the challenges that you faced when

FinovateSpring

Case Study

Alex Matjanec, Founder & Head of Purpose & Vision, Wysh, shares his vision for embedded insurance and exciting use cases where financial institutions can truly benefit customers. 

Stay up to date with the community on https://finovate.com/ 

Find out more about FinovateSpring on http://www.finovatespring.com/ 