March at The Fintech Times is all about insurtech and its many facets. With the industry making leaps and bounds over the past few years, insurtechs are providing the much-needed disruption of the traditionally viewed, and sometimes outdated insurance industry. From innovations in technology and applications to key industries like property, auto and energy, this month we’ll be taking a look at some of the key topics in the sector and how insurance really is the one to watch.
With this in mind, we have spoken to some of the leading players in the industry to discover what some of the major insurtech technological innovations have been recently and how it has impacted the insurance market.
As Neeraj Gupta, CEO of Policybazaar.ae sees it, the industry should really keep an eye on how data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and predictive analytics are set to revolutionise insurtech innovation.
He says: “Insurtech and insurers must work together to create an ecosystem capable of leveraging the power of technology for maximum impact and efficiency. Additionally, providing added value to customers while meeting their digital needs will help insurtechs to succeed and align consumer services with respect to the price offered by the insurer.
“To gain customers’ confidence technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and data from social media is expected to intensify the digital environment of the insurers.
“Chatbots can interact with customers, saving employees’ time and, ultimately, insurance companies’ budgets. It is predicted that by 2025, 95 per cent of all customer interactions will be through channels supported by AI technology, according to Servion Global Solutions. Apart from this, telematics would encourage better driving habits, seamless claims for insurers and change the operator’s relationship with customers from just being reactive to showcasing proactive indulgence.
“Moreover, artificial intelligence helps to strengthen the personalisation of insurance services by finding an individual approach to the consumer, especially when purchasing an insurance product. Faster access to data and the exclusion of human intervention can lead to more accurate reporting in shorter time periods.
“Furthermore, predictive analytics play a major role in collecting a variety of data to understand and predict policyholders’ behaviour, price, and select risks, identify customers at risk of failure, identify the risk of fraud, prioritize claims, identify claims, and predict trends.
“Collectively, all these technologies will be actively used by the insurance ecosystem in the near future, as the pandemic is likely to lead to new trends.”
Leon Stafford, UK Country Manager at Digital Workforce echoes these thoughts, and believe that automation will play a big role in the insurtech of the future:
“Insurance providers are faced with ever more complicated challenges. There’s a greater degree of uncertainty, ongoing unexpected events, rising customer expectations of agile and digital experiences and the fact that much of the industry still relies on physical paperwork to transact deals.
“Customers are making choices based on premiums, of course, but they’re also looking for better experiences and convenience. Delivering on the promise of customer service is challenging when we look at the archaic nature of much of the industry, but providers that add an automation layer to their processes will be much better placed to deliver the experiences customers expect.
“Intelligent Automation can be at the heart of this. By automating the customer journey, understanding a 360-degree view of the customer’s engagement and introducing dynamic routing it is possible to deliver up data to agents in real-time. As a result of implementing this strategy, some organisations have seen call duration reduced by 50 per cent while net promoter scores and employee satisfaction grow.
“Intelligent Automation also helps fill the gap left by the current talent exodus, as agents fed up with uninspiring work leave insurance for good. By automating mundane, robotic tasks, providers can free up human workforces to focus on more challenging and rewarding tasks and improve customer experience.”
L.S. Ram, Founder and CEO of Exdion sees the benefit of intelligent automation to insurance brokers, allowing them to target their offerings with near-pinpoint accuracy:
“Insurance brokers are at the crest of a wave of technology change. Imagine the rows of employees laboriously checking policies, comparing quotes, and evaluating risk while simultaneously trying to service their customers, suddenly replaced by overnight evaluations and insights generated by AI, machine learning and natural language processing.
“Customer relationships, costs, and employee satisfaction will be transformed.
“McKinsey estimates that 44 per cent of brokerage work activities have the potential to be automated, freeing dozens of employees to focus on the relationships with their clients that are the lifeblood of the brokerage business.
“As these tasks are automated, not only is the transaction reduced from months to days or hours, but accuracy is increased, costs are lower, and customers are delighted. The chance of overlooking something in a policy, neglecting to note that coverage levels for risks like cyber insurance may not be adequate, or missing the insights hidden in unstructured data are eliminated.
“This humane automation will deliver specific advantages to the market segments that brokerage services target. Large clients with complex risks can get the customised evaluation and detailed analysis that they require.
“The brokerage also enjoys a competitive advantage and an enhanced reputation for its use of this sophisticated technology. Intelligent automation makes it possible for many brokers to cost-effectively serve the growing mid-sized market. In the small business market, carriers already rely on digital processes that often cut out the broker; with automation, brokers can capture more of the high-end small business market.
“As AI, machine learning, and natural language processing continue to inform intelligent automation, greater insight into unstructured data will be a market-differentiating advantage, providing an enhanced level of risk advisory services, risk placement, and policy management and maintenance.
“Brokers who are early adopters of this game-changing technology are destined to gain a considerable – and perhaps permanent – competitive advantage.”
Izik Lavy, CEO of GeoX describes how property data as a service will become increasingly prevalent within insurtech innovations, allowing insurance handlers to manage risks more effectively.
He says: “We are living in a time of exciting technological innovations, and AI is driving transformative change.
“Insurers are starting to imagine a future in which they do not only identify potential risk, but also prevent it, and over the past few years, attitudes towards AI have changed drastically.
“By using up-to-date and real-time property data, derived from 3D imaging of buildings, insurers can go the extra mile. For instance, insurers can minimise the threat of damage, in events such as hurricanes and windstorms, by identifying an overhanging branch from a tree that needs removing. This disruptive technology is slowly becoming essential for any forward-thinking business.
“As business leaders are starting to power the insurance industry with AI, new data and technology are driving underwriting transformation. Within this new space for innovation, property data as a service (PDaaS) is becoming increasingly popular.
“PDaaS allows carriers to integrate the data in mass volume workflows. PDaaS provides an extensive multi-sourced and AI-driven generation of property data sets, including the 3D view of a property, which is allowing property insurance underwriters and claim handlers to carry out accurate risk assessments.
“AI has changed the way services are delivered to customers, and insurers around the world have big ambitions for AI-driven solutions to prevent rather than predict risk.”
