Name: Enhancing financial inclusion with micro life insurance
Uploaded: 2024-09-20T13:32:57.788Z
Duration: 583.22
Description: Join us as we dive into an insightful conversation with Alex Matjanec, CEO of Wysh, about their revolutionary approach to embedded life insurance. Discover how Wysh’s product, Life Benefit, integrates micro life insurance into deposit accounts, offering unique protection and financial benefits to customers.

FF.SP.02 - Alex Matjanec_1.mp4

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FinovateFall 2024

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FF.SP.02 - Alex Matjanec.vtt

English

{{00:00:04}}
Hello, I'm David Penn,
Research Analyst with Finovate.

{{00:00:06}}
We're here at Finovate Fall 2024
in New York City, and joining me is

{{00:00:10}}
Alex Matjanec he is the CEO of Wysh.

{{00:00:13}}
Thanks for joining us, Alex.

{{00:00:13}}
Hey, thanks for having me.

{{00:00:14}}
Before we get started, I have to
tell you, I saw your presentation

{{00:00:17}}
last night at our Leaders Plus event.

{{00:00:19}}
I thought it was a fantastic presentation
and really one of the best examples

{{00:00:22}}
of  embedded finance I've seen.

{{00:00:23}}
I've always thought that life insurance
was a really interesting niche and to see

{{00:00:26}}
not just embedded life insurance but the
things you've been able to do with it.

{{00:00:29}}
Very interesting stuff.

{{00:00:30}}
I think people are going
to get to know about that.

{{00:00:32}}
I'm gonna be glad that they did.

{{00:00:33}}
I appreciate it.

{{00:00:33}}
Yeah, we had a really nice response
and the feedback was fantastic.

{{00:00:36}}
Great.

{{00:00:36}}
Well, let's jump right into it.

{{00:00:37}}
Can you tell us a little bit
about Wysh and your approach

{{00:00:39}}
to embedded life insurance?

{{00:00:40}}
Yeah, so I think the first thing that
surprises a lot of people about Wysh

{{00:00:43}}
is that we're actually a life insurance
company as a carrier and I think it gives

{{00:00:47}}
them a little bit more confidence as we
talk to banks and credit unions that oh

{{00:00:51}}
you guys are as regulated as we are we
can talk the same language but then when

{{00:00:55}}
we get into what we're actually offering
at its core our product is called Life

{{00:00:58}}
Benefit and Life Benefit is micro life
insurance that sits on top of their

{{00:01:03}}
deposit accounts and then ultimately the
way it works is we sell the policy to

{{00:01:07}}
the institution and they give it as a
benefit to their customers or members.

{{00:01:11}}
As a way to differentiate their
story beyond just credited

{{00:01:14}}
interest rate, helping to bring
a real protection to that story.

{{00:01:17}}
And the last thing I'll highlight around
the product is, At its core, it is a

{{00:01:20}}
percentage of your account balance,
so as you grow your account balance,

{{00:01:23}}
you're growing this no fee, free life
insurance policy along with it, worth up

{{00:01:27}}
to 10 percent of your account balance.

{{00:01:29}}
And what makes that powerful is that
now our members are seeing two numbers

{{00:01:32}}
grow, but maybe two numbers fall.

{{00:01:34}}
As they're pulling that money in and
out, but it's really helping what we're

{{00:01:37}}
being called a double emergency fund.

{{00:01:39}}
Interesting.

{{00:01:40}}
We're going to talk a little bit about
that idea of the double emergency

{{00:01:42}}
fund in just a little bit more.

{{00:01:43}}
But I know that you've won
some awards for Life Benefit.

{{00:01:45}}
Can you tell us a little bit more
about the product and its impact?

{{00:01:47}}
Sure.

{{00:01:48}}
Well, we were here last year and we
were lucky enough to win Best of Show.

{{00:01:51}}
And that really made a huge
difference in helping us.

{{00:01:53}}
And so this really launched us up.

{{00:01:55}}
And since then, we were recognized
by Fast Company as one of the best,

{{00:01:58}}
one of the best banking design,
financial products design of the year.

{{00:02:02}}
And we were recognized as a
really good and embedded response.

{{00:02:04}}
And what the impact that has done
is more than anything has brought

{{00:02:07}}
awareness to the power of protection
in a deposit strategy story.

{{00:02:11}}
And why that really matters is because if
we look at both in the high net earners as

{{00:02:14}}
well as the low income, there's a really
a large gap when it comes to financial

{{00:02:18}}
protection and telling that story.

{{00:02:20}}
From another aspect it is that
we've seen a really fast adoption

{{00:02:23}}
of our product across partners.

{{00:02:25}}
And so the, it's proven that what
we've created is making a difference

{{00:02:29}}
and that they're excited to
implement it and tell that story.

{{00:02:31}}
Yeah, very interesting.

{{00:02:32}}
One of the things you talked about last
night that I found really interesting was

{{00:02:34}}
you gave an overview and a context of the
protection offerings that are offered.

{{00:02:38}}
And you were able to put Life Benefit and
the offerings from Wysh in that context.

{{00:02:41}}
It was very informative for me.

{{00:02:42}}
I wonder if you could talk a little
bit about how Life Benefit extends

{{00:02:45}}
that capacity to offer protection.

{{00:02:46}}
Yeah, to give context for your listeners.

{{00:02:49}}
Today there is protection being
offered and many institutions

{{00:02:51}}
talk about it, right?

{{00:02:52}}
We have deposit insurance,
if you're talking about the

{{00:02:54}}
bank side, FDIC insurance.

{{00:02:56}}
We talk about overdraft protection,
we talk about fraud protection.

{{00:02:59}}
The issue with a lot of that protection,
though it's valuable we have it, comes

{{00:03:02}}
from a world of being in a negative place.

{{00:03:05}}
And what we want to do with LifeBenefit
is show how protection can help

{{00:03:08}}
you from a positive direction.

{{00:03:09}}
And if you think about its core offering.

{{00:03:11}}
As you grow your deposits, you're growing
this policy and benefit along with it.

{{00:03:16}}
That is how we're following you
along your journey as you're trying

{{00:03:18}}
to become financially independent.

{{00:03:20}}
We're giving you a little bit
of protection along the way.

{{00:03:22}}
And I think that shift to the story of
future benefits and leveraging insurance

{{00:03:26}}
correctly that way is how we're all
going to better ourselves collectively.

{{00:03:30}}
Can you talk a little bit about the
process through which an institution that

{{00:03:33}}
is interested in life benefit benefits?

{{00:03:34}}
Adopts Life Benefit.

{{00:03:35}}
How does that happen?

{{00:03:36}}
Well, one of the things we're really
proud about is that it takes less

{{00:03:38}}
than 45 days to actually go from
contract to launching Life Benefit.

{{00:03:42}}
And the reason for that is
there's two specific steps.

{{00:03:44}}
The first is, because we are selling
it to the institution and their

{{00:03:49}}
benefit is getting gifted to their
members or customers, we give you

{{00:03:53}}
a one page disclosure that you
amend to your existing contract.

{{00:03:56}}
And that allows us to actually bring
this benefit to market without requiring

{{00:03:59}}
any sign up, opt in, or underwriting.

{{00:04:01}}
If you, the institution, ultimately are
comfortable with that individual getting

{{00:04:05}}
access and opening an account, and that
account has life benefit, they get it.

{{00:04:08}}
This ultimately makes life benefit
the most inclusive form of life

{{00:04:11}}
insurance available in America.

{{00:04:13}}
And so that right there turns this into
almost like a 72 hour bill to turn on.

{{00:04:18}}
Where Life Benefit gets really powerful
is when you show the benefit that

{{00:04:21}}
they've earned and they're growing over
time as you're raising your deposits,

{{00:04:24}}
much like showing people the value of
interest rate or return on investment.

{{00:04:27}}
And so that is a little bit of a larger
lift, but we've made integrations with

{{00:04:30}}
other cores and banking platforms,
as well as built a really low code,

{{00:04:34}}
no code options as well, that some of
our partners have implemented with.

{{00:04:38}}
And that's why we're really confident
in being able to show them that it

{{00:04:40}}
takes less than 45 days to go live.

{{00:04:41}}
Excellent.

{{00:04:42}}
Now you talked a moment ago about
deposit strategy, a huge thing obviously

{{00:04:45}}
for financial institutions these days.

{{00:04:47}}
Can you talk about some of the other
benefits that Life Benefit brings along?

{{00:04:49}}
Yeah, the other big one I would say on
the banking side is, the CRA has recently

{{00:04:54}}
come out with new regulations talking
about deposits having to play a role as

{{00:04:58}}
you're trying to help your community.

{{00:04:59}}
It used to be around loans, but we
want to see that on the deposit side.

{{00:05:02}}
And many institutions have tried to
solve that through looking at credit

{{00:05:06}}
score monitoring and stuff like that.

{{00:05:07}}
But those are benefits to the account, but
not really tied to the deposit account.

{{00:05:12}}
We truly are tied again, so we think
we can really help institutions

{{00:05:15}}
on the banking side in that way.

{{00:05:17}}
The other benefits that it comes to the
fact is that when you look at cost of

{{00:05:20}}
funds, and you look at the ability to
really manage your net interest margin

{{00:05:23}}
spread, the value that Life Benefit brings
Actually can help you maybe not have to

{{00:05:29}}
offer that additional interest rate or
reapply that dollars in other ways, right?

{{00:05:33}}
And so this helps institutions to manage
their cost of funds and their overall net

{{00:05:37}}
interest margin spread more effectively.

{{00:05:39}}
The last thing that we are seeing
is that it generally helps them

{{00:05:42}}
break out of a sea of sameness,
where you're helping to talk about

{{00:05:46}}
something beyond just interest rates.

{{00:05:47}}
And we've seen effectively 20 percent
acquisition cost reduction because

{{00:05:51}}
of the fact that you're standing out.

{{00:05:52}}
I want to talk a little bit more
about that sea of sameness issue.

{{00:05:54}}
I found that when I was reading through
some of the conversation, I found

{{00:05:57}}
an interesting concept, and I hadn't
really thought about it that way, but is

{{00:05:59}}
that a real problem for credit unions?

{{00:06:01}}
For both credit unions and
banks, I definitely think so.

{{00:06:03}}
I think when people think about a savings
account, they're like, oh, I stashed

{{00:06:05}}
my money, I earn an interest rate.

{{00:06:07}}
But what we're starting to see the story
as financial wellness becomes more and

{{00:06:10}}
more into that conversation, they're
looking for a more rounded story.

{{00:06:13}}
And that deposit strategy has been
looking at spending additional dollars

{{00:06:17}}
to round that story out, but it doesn't
directly attack what the deposit strategy

{{00:06:22}}
is, which is how do we make getting
funds in as cheaply as possible, right?

{{00:06:26}}
Reward the customer for keeping their
money with us or the member with us and

{{00:06:29}}
then redeploy those dollars in other ways.

{{00:06:31}}
LifeBenefit helps that story cleanly
because it can be an alternative to

{{00:06:35}}
interest rate by rewarding a higher
percentage of LifeBenefit which allows

{{00:06:39}}
people to build their benefit faster.

{{00:06:41}}
You talked about a number of things that
you introduced tonight, again for folks

{{00:06:43}}
who weren't fortunate enough to catch your
presentation last night about the idea of

{{00:06:46}}
the inclusiveness of the life insurance.

{{00:06:47}}
That was a very interesting point.

{{00:06:49}}
The other thing I wanted to talk
about was the idea of the Forex

{{00:06:50}}
ROI and the affiliate offering.

{{00:06:52}}
I was wondering if that's
something you about.

{{00:06:53}}
Yeah, definitely.

{{00:06:54}}
So one of the things that we're
most excited about, is that when

{{00:06:57}}
you start to give people a taste of
life benefit, they start to think

{{00:07:00}}
about the financial gap that they
have when it comes to protection.

{{00:07:03}}
And we have to recognize that here in
America, over 100 million Americans

{{00:07:07}}
are uninsured or underinsured.

{{00:07:09}}
Additionally, the access to life insurance
is actually decreasing time over time.

{{00:07:14}}
Two reasons that's happening.

{{00:07:15}}
One is the fact that to actually
get approved for a traditional

{{00:07:19}}
term life insurance, You have to go
through traditional underwriting.

{{00:07:21}}
On average, that's only approving
around 60 percent of people who apply.

{{00:07:25}}
So there's many people who are raising
their hands who are being denied.

{{00:07:28}}
Their alternative to that is then to look
at group insurance through their employer.

{{00:07:31}}
That is also a benefit that has been
decreasing by 20 percent averages

{{00:07:35}}
over time, and that's going away.

{{00:07:37}}
So where are people going to be
able to get this form of protection?

{{00:07:40}}
We think it's an opportunity for
the banks to step in, and the credit

{{00:07:42}}
unions to help them to bring that
level of protection around that story.

{{00:07:45}}
So why doing that?

{{00:07:46}}
It starts to offering life benefit,
educates people on that gap,

{{00:07:50}}
and they take action to upgrade.

{{00:07:52}}
And this creates a really powerful
flywheel, where when you send that

{{00:07:55}}
traffic to us or to whoever is your
insurance partner, they will pay the

{{00:07:59}}
institution for those leads in the
form of different forms of commissions.

{{00:08:03}}
And what we're finding is that when
you optimize that experience, the end

{{00:08:05}}
result is that you will make more money
in commissions, in some cases 4x that,

{{00:08:10}}
than it costs you to offer life benefits.

{{00:08:11}}
So what you're getting is a new fee
origination, A differentiation to

{{00:08:14}}
your story and ultimately a rounded
conception that you're showing them

{{00:08:18}}
that you care about protection.

{{00:08:19}}
Very interesting.

{{00:08:20}}
Like I said, again, I'm just very
impressed with the way that Wish,

{{00:08:22}}
again, the fact that you went best
in the show doesn't surprise me by

{{00:08:24}}
the way that embedded finance as
a general concept comes, has come

{{00:08:27}}
about and the way that life insurance
and the way Wysh has brought it,

{{00:08:30}}
it's so seamlessly within that.

{{00:08:32}}
I wanted to see maybe by way of finishing
up, looking ahead with Wysh what are

{{00:08:34}}
some of the things that you expect going
forward with life benefit with Wysh

{{00:08:38}}
well, I think the thing is our awareness
has been building and we are only

{{00:08:41}}
currently available in the United States.

{{00:08:43}}
Okay.

{{00:08:43}}
And, we've attended a lot of
other conferences that allow

{{00:08:46}}
us, even here, to get exposure.

{{00:08:47}}
We have people coming from Canada,
in Puerto Rico, where, how can

{{00:08:50}}
we get access to this product?

{{00:08:52}}
So, expansion is something
that we're considering.

{{00:08:54}}
The other thing that's really
important, too, is like right now

{{00:08:56}}
we cap at 20, 000 as the most you
can earn in this micro insurance.

{{00:09:00}}
I want to get that to 30, 000, 40, 000.

{{00:09:02}}
How do we push that further?

{{00:09:03}}
And then lastly, the other thing
that matters to us, too, is that

{{00:09:07}}
Credit cards is where normally
these protection benefits exist.

{{00:09:10}}
Is there an opportunity for
us to expand to that space?

{{00:09:12}}
Micro insurance is the future to us.

{{00:09:14}}
We're doubling down on it, and I
think that the market is showing

{{00:09:17}}
us where we want to go and how
we're paying attention to it.

{{00:09:19}}
Yeah, really, really interesting.

{{00:09:20}}
Again, I think some of the most exciting
things happening in embedded finance is

{{00:09:23}}
what you guys are doing with insurance.

{{00:09:24}}
Really interesting stuff, and
I think folks are gonna really

{{00:09:26}}
appreciate learning more about it.

{{00:09:27}}
I look forward to it.

{{00:09:27}}
Fantastic.

{{00:09:28}}
Thank you, and thank you
for joining us as well.

Hello, I'm David Penn,
Research Analyst with Finovate.

We're here at Finovate Fall 2024
in New York City, and joining me is

Before we get started, I have to
tell you, I saw your presentation

I thought it was a fantastic presentation
and really one of the best examples

I've always thought that life insurance
was a really interesting niche and to see

not just embedded life insurance but the
things you've been able to do with it.

I think people are going
to get to know about that.

Yeah, we had a really nice response
and the feedback was fantastic.

Can you tell us a little bit
about Wysh and your approach

Yeah, so I think the first thing that
surprises a lot of people about Wysh

is that we're actually a life insurance
company as a carrier and I think it gives

them a little bit more confidence as we
talk to banks and credit unions that oh

you guys are as regulated as we are we
can talk the same language but then when

we get into what we're actually offering
at its core our product is called Life

Benefit and Life Benefit is micro life
insurance that sits on top of their

deposit accounts and then ultimately the
way it works is we sell the policy to

the institution and they give it as a
benefit to their customers or members.

As a way to differentiate their
story beyond just credited

interest rate, helping to bring
a real protection to that story.

And the last thing I'll highlight around
the product is, At its core, it is a

percentage of your account balance,
so as you grow your account balance,

you're growing this no fee, free life
insurance policy along with it, worth up

And what makes that powerful is that
now our members are seeing two numbers

As they're pulling that money in and
out, but it's really helping what we're

We're going to talk a little bit about
that idea of the double emergency

But I know that you've won
some awards for Life Benefit.

Can you tell us a little bit more
about the product and its impact?

Well, we were here last year and we
were lucky enough to win Best of Show.

And that really made a huge
difference in helping us.

And since then, we were recognized
by Fast Company as one of the best,

one of the best banking design,
financial products design of the year.

And we were recognized as a
really good and embedded response.

And what the impact that has done
is more than anything has brought

awareness to the power of protection
in a deposit strategy story.

And why that really matters is because if
we look at both in the high net earners as

well as the low income, there's a really
a large gap when it comes to financial

From another aspect it is that
we've seen a really fast adoption

And so the, it's proven that what
we've created is making a difference

and that they're excited to
implement it and tell that story.

One of the things you talked about last
night that I found really interesting was

you gave an overview and a context of the
protection offerings that are offered.

And you were able to put Life Benefit and
the offerings from Wysh in that context.

I wonder if you could talk a little
bit about how Life Benefit extends

Yeah, to give context for your listeners.

Today there is protection being
offered and many institutions

We have deposit insurance,
if you're talking about the

We talk about overdraft protection,
we talk about fraud protection.

The issue with a lot of that protection,
though it's valuable we have it, comes

from a world of being in a negative place.

And what we want to do with LifeBenefit
is show how protection can help

And if you think about its core offering.

As you grow your deposits, you're growing
this policy and benefit along with it.

That is how we're following you
along your journey as you're trying

We're giving you a little bit
of protection along the way.

And I think that shift to the story of
future benefits and leveraging insurance

correctly that way is how we're all
going to better ourselves collectively.

Can you talk a little bit about the
process through which an institution that

Well, one of the things we're really
proud about is that it takes less

than 45 days to actually go from
contract to launching Life Benefit.

And the reason for that is
there's two specific steps.

The first is, because we are selling
it to the institution and their

benefit is getting gifted to their
members or customers, we give you

a one page disclosure that you
amend to your existing contract.

And that allows us to actually bring
this benefit to market without requiring

If you, the institution, ultimately are
comfortable with that individual getting

access and opening an account, and that
account has life benefit, they get it.

This ultimately makes life benefit
the most inclusive form of life

And so that right there turns this into
almost like a 72 hour bill to turn on.

FinovateFall

Expert Insight

Join us as we dive into an insightful conversation with Alex Matjanec, CEO of Wysh, about their revolutionary approach to embedded life insurance. Discover how Wysh’s product, Life Benefit, integrates micro life insurance into deposit accounts, offering unique protection and financial benefits to customers.