Open banking provider Yapily has teamed up with the embedded insurance platform Certua to make it easier, quicker, and cheaper for people to apply for and manage their life insurance coverage in the UK.

Despite rising levels of financial vulnerability and the need for a safety net, a significant life insurance protection gap exists in the UK. In a 2020 Financial Lives survey by the FCA, over half of the people (53%) admitted to not having any protection products in place.

Together, Certua and Yapily are making it easier for people to access life insurance coverage that is suited to their needs, reduce time spent on admin during the risk assessment process, and save money by ensuring individuals aren’t under or over-insured.

Using Yapily’s platform, with the customer’s consent Certua can fetch individual bank account information such as annual income and expenses to automatically assess a person’s financial position. Certua then feeds this information into its open banking-powered cover calculator to provide more accurate and personalised insurance policy recommendations. Individuals can receive point-in-time recommendations in minutes, without having to engage with lengthy data-gathering and advice processes when applying for life insurance coverage.

Helped by the FCA’s recent amendment to open banking’s 90-day consent rule, Yapily is also enabling Certua to continuously monitor and assess every customers’ protection needs throughout their lifetime. This ensures that coverage can be adapted to meet an individual’s changing circumstances, with many people that do have coverage currently stuck on rigid fixed benefit and fixed-term products.

Certua is also working with Yapily to explore the use of open banking data in underwriting, eliminating burdensome administrative tasks when it comes to referrals, saving insurance companies both time and money. The partnership will see an exciting roadmap of solutions added as both partners continue to expand their product suites.

Luke Bewley, Founding team and Director of Growth, Certua, commented:
“There is a colossal market failure in the life insurance industry today. Certua are investing in and working hard to develop embedded solutions which improve the model for the entire value chain, most importantly the end customer. Yapily enables us to dramatically innovate in the life insurance space and we are excited to see the impact of this on businesses and consumers together, now and in the future.”

Stefano Vaccino, Founder and CEO, Yapily, added: “Embedded insurance and open banking: two disruptive movements that, together, have the power to make financial services better, simpler, and more accessible for millions of people. It’s exciting to be working with Certua in this space and accelerating towards an open economy that works for everyone. I look forward to watching our partnership grow and enabling Certua to deliver the power of open banking to its customers.”