John Hancock wants to make life insurance a game of well-being

John Hancock will give his life insurance customers a discount to stay healthy. They just need to give some personal data to receive them.

The financial services company said Wednesday that he will join a free version of his wellness program, Vitality, to all life insurance policies.

Through the program, customers can save fitness and health information to the company in exchange for discounts at places such as: Amazon (AMZN) and REI. For an additional $ 2 per month, customers receive a free Fitbit or an Apple Watch for $ 25. If they reach certain targets, they do not have to pay more for the devices and can receive up to 15% off annual premiums.

The insurer says that the wellness program is changing the way people think about its products.

"I would never have thought that anybody would call life insurance fun," said Brooks Tingle, head of John Hancock's insurance division.

John Hancock hopes that encouraging and rewarding healthy behaviors will help clients live longer. The company can then make more money by investing the premiums while deferring the payment of claims.

In the meantime, he gets a wealth of data on policyholders, while deepening his relationship with his clients. The information collected by John Hancock could make it easier for life insurance clients to switch to other products of the company, such as pension plans.

"We would be in touch with our customers once or twice a year, basically a privacy statement and an invoice, and that's all," said Marianne Harrison, CEO of John Hancock. "Now, we engage with them on an ongoing basis and establish a relationship with our customers, which we have never really had before."

John Hancock, a unit of Canada Manulife (MFC), in partnership with Vitality, a wellness company, in 2015.

Since then, about 40% of customers have chosen to add Vitality to their life insurance policies, Harrison said.

Vitality users check an average of 40 times a month, according to Tingle. They have the ability to sync their portable devices or can enter an app to record workouts, doctor visits and meditation sessions.

Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the transfer of large amounts of personal data to insurance companies beyond what is necessary to receive a policy. They fear that in the future, insurers use the data to increase costs for riskier clients. The insurance industry says that it is highly regulated and that it only intends to use the data to deliver more targeted experiences to customers.

John Hancock maintains that customers choose and provide only information that they share easily.

"If you do not want to include your body mass index, you do not have to," Harrison said.

Customers are informed in advance of the exact use of the data, she added.

According to Limra, a group of industrialists, the proportion of US households with individual life insurance contracts has stagnated in recent years.

John Hancock wants his Vitality program to spark new interest, especially among young people, who are less likely to view life insurance as a necessity.

CNNMoney (New York) Posted on 19 September 2018 at 16h58