At MassMutual, our unwavering focus is – and will continue to be – helping people secure their future and protect the ones they love. We’re a mutual company, which means we’re owned by our policyowners – so everything we do is focused on our customers. We provide holistic financial solutions, guidance and education in the way our customers want to engage with us, on their terms – whether in person, online, at the workplace or over the phone. We offer a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, protection products, retirement, and investment solutions to help people achieve their financial goals.
WHY WE’VE PARTNERED WITH MASSCHALLENGE FINTECH:
We believe that startups are the hub of innovation. New ideas and innovation are needed in the financial services industry and we believe that by creating a platform through MassChallenge’s FinTech program we will help build industry and startup collaboration.
OUR CHALLENGES:
1) Data Management
The industry is suffering from “information overload”. There’s so much data out there that is disjointed, redundant, unclear and at times not easily accessible. Whether data is internal or external to MassMutual, effective centralized data management where we can have a unified picture of customers’ needs is key to better serving them. Having the ability to easily access clear and accurate data where proactive actions can be taken is essential.
2) Customer Centricity
This challenge goes hand in hand with data management. There is a huge gap in the industry today with having a holistic view of our customers and potential customers as well as truly understanding their needs, especially Gen Z’s & Millennials. How can we educate customers and leverage data to help them make effective decisions? The lack of capabilities impacts not only attracting new customers, but also the retention of existing customers. Understanding the sentiment of your customers relative to your company and service provided, is key to determining the appropriate actions to take in anticipation of their needs. We are interested in finding ways to create a unified experience to understand and service our clients’ needs.
3) Financial Planning & Education
A frequent question we get from customers of all income levels is “how am I doing financially”? While there are so many different financial planning tools in the market, a significant gap continues to exist with financial literacy and understanding of personal financial wellness. Many people don’t understand the financial benefits of insurance and protection solutions due to the lack of immediate tangible value. With unemployment rising & increasingly volatile economic conditions, its more important now than ever to provide accessible and easy to understand financial planning and education, especially over the course of their lifetime as their needs evolve. We would love to see if there are opportunities with the rollout of 5G to help with this challenge.
4) Digital Enablement
COVID-19 has changed the way that everyone is doing business. Even if you think you are already digitally enabled, you aren’t. The pandemic has and will continue to change norms and push us into a more digitally enabled ecosystem. We would like to be pioneers in bringing the digital journey to the next level and be able to serve our customers on their terms, whenever, wherever and however.
5) Real-time Intelligence
Whether you are a customer or servicing customers, by having the ability to obtain real-time, actionable intelligence will allow for better and timely decision making. This includes the ability to provide sound advice to a customer throughout his or her lifetime and taking into account meaningful life events. How can we leverage AI and other real-time intelligence capabilities to help aide in offering the right products & services at the right time and enable better decision making?
HOW WE’LL HELP STARTUPS GROW THEIR BUSINESSES:
MassMutual is an excellent partner for startups because we are passionate about innovation, have many resources available and are committed to help startups grow. Our track record over the past two years with MassChallenge programs has been excellent; two startups we worked with won top awards and over 50% of our partnerships turned into engagements. Together, let’s make Boston the leading FinTech ecosystem for innovation and help solve our industry’s challenges.