Prismm Builds Digital Inheritance Tools to Help Banks Retain Deposits
Prismm embeds beneficiary and estate planning into bank accounts, helping families transfer inherited assets digitally while banks retain customer deposits.
Summary
Prismm, founded in 2020 by sisters Martha Underwood and Shella Sylla, each with decades in banking and finance, embeds beneficiary and estate planning into accounts from day one. Customers preauthorize relatives and store identity, consent and supporting documents. After death, designees can remotely view assets and records, then initiate eligible beneficiary transfers across state lines. Its bank core integration targets a largely manual process and reduces work for families, particularly women, whom Prismm says typically manage caregiving and post-death affairs.
Prismm Designate enables digital beneficiary updates. Prismm Anchor tracks accounts, documents, property and other assets across institutions, with controlled access through a financial institution rather than a standalone app. Prismm Continuity, coming soon, will guide employees and families through transfers. Prismm says banks lose billions of dollars in deposits annually to estate attrition when heirs move inherited money elsewhere, while easier transitions could preserve assets and next-generation customer relationships.
The concept began in 2017, when the founders’ father was hospitalized after falling while clearing a neighbor’s roof following Hurricane Irma in Miami, leaving the family unable to locate key financial records. He recovered. Underwood refined the idea three years later while working at a bank during COVID-19 and seeing bereaved families struggle with accounts, bills and support for surviving spouses. Prismm is presenting October 14, 2026, at Startup Battlefield during Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco. The winner is due Thursday, October 15.
Positives
- Prismm Designate lets bank customers update beneficiaries digitally instead of relying on slower manual processes.
- Prismm Anchor consolidates accounts, documents, property and assets across institutions while giving designated relatives controlled access.
- Preloaded identity, consent and supporting documents allow eligible inheritance transfers to begin remotely, including when relatives live in different states.
- Prismm Continuity will guide bank employees and families through each transfer step when it launches.
- Bank core integration could help financial institutions retain inherited deposits and build relationships with customers’ heirs.
Risks & concerns
- Financial institutions lose billions of dollars in deposits annually when heirs transfer inherited assets to other banks.
- Prismm Continuity remains in development, so its guided transfer workflow is not yet available.
- Families still face largely manual post-death processes involving scattered accounts, documents, bills and property.
- Women often bear the combined burden of caregiving and managing financial affairs after a death, Prismm says.
- Details remain limited on Prismm’s bank customers, adoption levels and demonstrated reduction of estate attrition.