MassMutual introduces data-powered mortality risk system
MassMutual is launching a platform using data to devise a mortality risk scoring system to be used by its life insurance arm. The platform, dubbed LifeRisk 360, will reportedly be able to use data and machine learning to assess the health and lifestyles of millions of potential clients. The firm says the platform will allow for greater individual assessment when providing life insurance policies. MassMutual worked with California-based Captricity in launching the platform. Captricity provided the underlying data for LifeRisk 360 and the two firms also announced the data service may be made available to external clients.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., and OAKLAND, Calif.,, Oct. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced today the launch of LifeRisk 360 – an exciting new digital initiative that will utilize cutting-edge data science techniques to create the first individual mortality risk scoring system of its kind for the life insurance industry.

The LifeRisk 360 initiative is headed by Sears Merritt, MassMutual’s Chief Data Scientist, and draws on machine learning and artificial intelligence methodologies, as well as hundreds of millions of data points that characterize the health and behavior of millions of individuals spanning nearly two decades.

Among the anticipated benefits to life insurance carriers: significant improvements in the application process and a substantial improvement in the ability to deliver rapid assessment of individual life insurance risk relative to current industry best practices.

“We are excited to introduce LifeRisk 360 – an innovative and distinct life insurance risk assessment platform designed to bring new intelligent insights into a largely manual process,” Merritt said. “By leveraging linked data elements and machine learning methodologies, our objective is to further reduce underwriting decision time and improve mortality risk selection.”

Importantly, MassMutual and Captricity, an Oakland, Calif.-based intelligent automation provider for insurance, announced today that they are exploring a potential partnership in which Captricity would make the LifeRisk 360 scoring service broadly available to the U.S. life insurance market on a fee-for-service basis. MassMutual utilized Captricity’s distinct solution to create a proprietary dataset, which underpins the new LifeRisk 360 product.

“Our planned partnership with LifeRisk 360 rewards our insurance carriers and their customers by reimagining underwriting as a modern, digital process,” said Kuang Chen, CEO of Captricity. “This solution enables insurers to eliminate many of the manual steps and friction associated with underwriting. This solution will be an industry pivot point, giving carriers the ability to accelerate their own data-driven underwriting initiatives to deliver minimally invasive decisions faster.”

Pending completion of the final agreement, the new solution is expected to be available to life insurance companies beginning in the first quarter of 2018.

About MassMutual

MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. MassMutual offers a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, annuities, retirement plans and other employee benefits. For more information, visit www.massmutual.com.

About Captricity

Captricity’s AI-powered intelligent automation solution extracts and enhances data at 99.9% accuracy from any customer channel — including handwritten documents — and delivers it seamlessly into downstream systems and workflows. Thirteen of the top 20 US life insurers use high-quality, normalized data from Captricity to deliver business insights that increase revenue, lower costs, and drive a deeper understanding of risk. Captricity is headquartered in Oakland, CA. For more information, visit www.captricity.com.

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