Relationships, not transactions: The next evolution of life insurance

New York Life, the largest life insurance company in the US, has been providing families with financial peace of mind for over 175 years; by partnering with Empathy, it will expand its support to emotional and administrative peace of mind as well.

The world of commerce is changing rapidly. Beyond the simple exchange of money for goods and services, today’s consumer wants to believe in the companies they transact with. We care deeply not just about a company’s products, but what the company stands for and how it interacts with the world. We have chosen to demand corporate responsibility and transparency. Fair trade and environmentally safe practices. We want brands that fit our lifestyles and values, and that treat us like full human beings with unique personalities, needs, and desires. For startups and corporations, this means that values create value.

Though this shift has affected every kind of business, from restaurants to fashion to construction, it becomes even more apparent when it comes to companies that touch our lives in more fundamental ways. And hardly any industry affects us quite as deeply as life insurance. Beyond the simple transaction of buying a policy, life insurance represents a long-term relationship, a commitment to being there for your family when they need it most, when their life has been totally upended. Life insurance companies stand for a promise to millions of people to catch them when they fall.

To truly make good on this promise, it is clear that the financial support provided by an insurance payout, while an incredibly important lifeline to so many families, is not nearly enough. Life insurance beneficiaries have, by definition, just experienced great loss. Treating them as complete people means meeting them where they are, as families going through some of the hardest days of their entire lives, and addressing those more complex issues they are dealing with: grief at their loss, tension over what to do next, and an ever-growing list of unfamiliar tasks and difficult bureaucracies.

We created Empathy to assist families with exactly these challenges, helping them navigate the treacherous weeks and months after their loved one’s passing. The Empathy app gives them the information, guidance, and tools they need to face up to the endless list of tasks and understand how they are feeling through all of it. And through our Helpline and other useful services, we take as much of the burden off their shoulders, so they can focus on the more important things, like being there for one another and honoring the memory of the person who is gone.

In our swiftly changing world, this is exactly the kind of support that beneficiaries of life insurance policies need and deserve. By adding Empathy as an integral part of the services it provides to families, a life insurance company can transform the benefits experience, truly honoring the long-standing relationship it has with each of their policyholders and making good on its commitment to take care of their loved ones after they are gone.

Today we are very proud to announce that New York Life, a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest life insurance companies in the world, has taken this important step, partnering with Empathy to make sure the beneficiaries of its policies get all the support and guidance they need. In addition to their insurance payout, New York Life beneficiaries will now receive complimentary access to the Empathy app and all of its services.

We’re thrilled to be able to start building these kinds of relationships together: Relationships that go beyond the transaction, to bring families not only the all-important funds to get them through a difficult time, but the care and support to assist them with all the things they need it for.