Out of the 104,985 life insurance agents currently employed in the U.S., some 8.7 percent are Black or African American agents. The field is very competitive, but here are two platforms Black agents might want to check out.

Ethos Life and Plum Life are two Insuretech companies that focus on digital insurance that are leveraging technology to make the life insurance process faster and easier. They offer quick digital applications and no medical exam; meaning agents can sign up clients easier and faster, Investopedia reported.

Insuretech is a fintech term combining the words “insurance” and “technology.” Insuretech refers to the use of technology that finds cost savings and efficiency from the current insurance model. Experts say this allows products to be priced more competitively, and the process of applying for insurance becomes faster. The traditional process could take weeks to complete just the application.

Insuretech can also cut out bias that is sometimes built into the traditional insurance application process, say experts.

Ethos works with insurance companies like Legal & General America, Ameritas, and TruStage and has streamlined the application process. Founded by Peter Colis and Lingke Wang, Ethos was launched in 2016 with the goal of making insurance affordable and straightforward. The concept was borne out of a personal experience.

While Wang was in college, he was sold on an expensive insurance policy he didn’t need and couldn’t afford, the company’s website stated. Wang and Colis other Americans might also not know enough about insurance to buy the right coverage for their families.

Ethos offers both term life insurance (ages 20-65) and guaranteed issue whole life insurance (ages 65-85).

Plum Life Inc. boasts that it offers a “friction-free buying experience for both advisors and their clients.” Like Ethos, the company offers a streamlined purchase process along with professional advice.

“We saw an opportunity in the market to reinvent the way advisors sell life insurance,” Manish Bhatt, CEO and co-founder of Plum Life, said in a press release. “So much of the focus has been about simplifying the customer experience but given that agent sales account for over 90% of all life insurance sold in the United States, we set out to also focus on the advisor experience. We believe that by making it easy, advisors can spend less time on managing cases and more time helping their clients with life insurance and focusing on segments that have previously been ignored.”

The company was founded in 2020 and is based in Warren, New Jersey.

Ethos Life agents Rickeyta Starks, chief operating officer, and Anthony Starks, CEO of Financial Freedom Dallas, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZSRQrQppoU&t=7s