Introducing Life Benefit by Wysh

In an effort to ride the embedded insurance wave, Northwestern Mutual is using its direct-to-consumer insurance brand to offer Life Benefit. The product is geared towards financial companies and banking organizations and is a relatively simple concept: it’s essentially life insurance baked right into a deposit account. Financial institutions can opt to purchase Life Benefit policies, and upon doing so, they designate specific types of accounts—whether savings, checking, brokerage, or CDs—to come with this built-in insurance perk.

Once the bank or financial institution incorporates Life Benefit into designated accounts, the holder automatically qualifies for this coverage just by opening and maintaining one of these accounts – without the need of a medical exam. Anyone aged between 18 and 79 is eligible for this added protection.

If the account holder has a joint account, he is still eligible for Life Benefit, but there’s a catch. The coverage will only apply to the death of the account holder whose social security number is used for reporting the account’s taxable income.

The product is offered by Wysh , an A- rated insurance carrier owned by Northwestern Mutual as of 2021. The policy is reinsured by Gen Re.

Bottom Line: Swiss Re runs iptiQ, Northwestern Mutual is the parent company of Wysh, and although MassMutual owns Haven Life, it has diverted resources ineffectively towards Haven Technologies.