When fintech upstarts began to gain traction, the media, at least, began to portray the relationship between these upstarts and the incumbents as an all out war. Incumbents were meant to be threatened by these new players, who were out to disrupt just about every single link in the financial services chain.
More recently, the use of battle metaphors to describe the incumbent-fintech relationship has toned down, in part because incumbents have realized that partnering with fintechs can do them a world of good. And instead of crawling up in a ball and crying at the prospect of a hostile fintech takeover, incumbents are also acquiring fintechs or just coming up with fintechs of their own.
One incumbent that’s been on a role with the latter option is MassMutual, the 165-year-old insurance magnate. In May 2016, for example, MassMutual launched its own fintech product: ValoraLife, a direct to consumer online life insurer targeting Latinos across the US. A year before, MassMutual launched its ‘in-house startup’, online life insurance provider Haven Life.
December 10, 2016
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