The revolution is coming, but can life be distilled down to just a number?

Many of us are getting used to seeing how minute changes in our behaviour can affect our health – I’m very aware of what happens to my recovery if I have a big night out. Likewise, if I decide to blow out on a new car, the implications on other aspects of my spending or investing power will be affected. So why not combine analysis of the two behavioural traits into one handy app?

Today we learned of MyLifeKit, the app that will “merge health-related data and credit-related data to, for the first time, offer one numerical expression of a person’s life based on their health and financial wellbeing.”

Read the chippy press release (shared verbatim below) and you might think ‘what’s not to like’?

However, I wonder what the launch press releases for gambling apps read like back in the day? Of course, everyone wants to act responsibly and nobody would wish to exploit anyone’s vulnerabilities, but how would you feel about your bank and your healthcare provider sharing your data to assess your chances?

In our aging in place report we asked 787 people about who they would trust with their health and financial data; an alarming 76% of respondents did not trust that their personal data will be kept safe as technology advances. Blurring the lines between financial companies and healthcare companies did not sit well with our respondents either, with only 11% trusting financial data to a healthcare provider and 8% trusting healthcare data to a financial services provider.

Perhaps we should have asked the question: “Would you trust your combined health and financial data to one organisation?”

It’s interesting that the “company has also partnered with a team from one of ‘The Big Four’ professional services networks” which means either Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG or PwC. And no wonder: these companies help global insurers and financial services companies innovate and grow their businesses.

We know that the well-heeled are willing to pay for their longevity (approximately c.$50k per annum over 10 years, so c.$1000 per week, according to a UBS survey). And why not, they’ve worked hard to enjoy their wealth for as long as possible, and I have every intention to join their ranks!

I have always made those dinner party arguments for longevity as an industry for positive growth for EVERYONE – it’s not just for the rich and I’m with Aubrey de Grey who told us that the longevity escape velocity will be “zero cost to the end user … aging is so expensive that it would be economically suicidal for any country not to make these things available, irrespective of ability to pay, to everybody who’s old enough to need them.”

Then of course there’s the macro-economic argument for longevity: $38t in value for every year of extended life, according to Professors Andrew J Scott (London Business School), David Sinclair (Harvard Medical School) and Martin Ellison (University of Oxford).

So, where will the advent of apps like MyLifeKit lead us to?

Its advance, and that of its future competitors, is inexorable in my opinion, in fact, I have a ‘life choice’ concept of my own based on something similar, but this next generational step in cross-fertilising data does pose the question as to who owns the data, who gives permission for that data to be used, and what happens when a future algorithm comes-up with a result that the person at the source of the data doesn’t really want it shared with anyone?

Blockchain, anyone?

MyLifeKit, a revolutionary health & credit score platform, confirms £2 million funding round

Press release 08 February 2022
MyLifeKit, a new company which has launched in the ‘AI for Life’ space, is about to close a £2m million Series A funding round. The company is also connecting with strong equity partners and institutional banks to close a £10m Series B funding round before Summer 2022.

The company has also partnered with a team from one of ‘The Big Four’ professional services networks. The details of this partnership and who it is with has not yet been made public.

MyLifeKit is developing a cutting-edge platform called LifeScore, which will merge health-related data and credit-related data to offer users a numerical expression of a person’s life based on their physiological needs, health, and financial wellbeing. The service is expected to launch in June 2022.

Consumers will use the MyLifeKit platform, LifeScore, to evaluate potential risks posed by unhealthy lifestyles and present solutions to improve it. The service also has applications in the healthcare sector, by allowing Healthcare professionals deeper insight into a patients lifestyle. It can also be applied in the insurance and banking sector, to help consumers with better access to credit and insurance coverage, as enabled by a positive LifeScore, similar to how traditional Credit Scores usually work.

MyLifeKit has also partnered with Egalify, who led the Series A funding round and will provide ongoing support to ensure that innovative ideas are turned into successful ventures that create prosperity. They have also partnered with TransUnion, who will be their official credit score provider.

As part of this partnership, Egalify and MyLifeKit are looking to develop a sustainable solution that will enable a larger audience to benefit from financial, economic and social prosperity.

Romano Toscano, CEO & Founder of MyLifeKit commented: “Numerical signifiers have surged in popularity in recent years, and yet there is no offering which combines credit and health analysis into one simple score.

“The benefits this product will have in boosting personal health awareness, flagging potentially unhealthy lifestyles, and even catching diseases and life-threatening illnesses will be revolutionary. Our vision is to use accessible information and technology to create a ‘LifeScore’ Society, leading to better lives for everyone.”