Other parts of this series:
- Agile insurers see innovation as critical for their survival
- Zurich sets the pace in insurance innovation
- Savvy insurers are getting up close to their customers
- Agile insurers move quickly to deliver on-demand services
- Innovative insurers unleash the power of big-scale AI
- Smart insurers reap big returns from swift AI roll-out
Trail-blazing carriers use the Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards to showcase impressive “My Market” on-demand services.
Innovative insurers have been quick to capitalize on the soaring demand among consumers for digital services that are fast, convenient and always relevant. They’re using powerful data analytics systems to provide an array of personalized digital services that constantly match consumers’ changing circumstances. These services include real-time home protection, usage-based car cover and just-in-time travel insurance, among others.
This fast-growing sector of the insurance industry, which provides “My Market” digital services to consumers, is set to become a big generator of revenues for carriers that move quickly to gain an early lead on their competitors. Around 90 percent of insurance executives believe the convergence of customized services with real-time delivery will unleash the next wave of competitive advantage in their industry.
Several trail-blazers used this year’s Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards to show how they’re targeting the My Market sector. They’re all rolling out innovative insurance services that deliver highly-customized, on-demand experiences. Four companies were especially impressive.
AXA’s BeLive uses genome profiling to help cancer patients.
AXA: In Italy, AXA has launched an innovative healthcare product tailored to the individual needs of cancer patients. BeLive offers patients who have exhausted standard cancer treatments the use of genome profiling to help identify effective advanced therapy. The BeLive product helps patients find little-known or difficult-to-obtain cancer treatments that are well suited to their specific needs. It reduces the likelihood of patients embarking on treatments that are unnecessary or could cause severe side-effects. BeLive insurance also includes cover for travel costs, home care, teleconsultations and medical emergencies.
BBVA: The Spanish financial services group has launched an innovative on-demand travel-insurance service. Customers who have registered for the service using the company’s mobile app are prompted to buy travel insurance whenever they make a travel-related purchase using a BBVA credit card. They can then use the BBVA app to buy the cover they need. The travel insurance can be tailored to match the specific requirements of the customer. It’s able to accommodate multiple destinations, for example, as well as groups of up to a dozen travelers and varying levels of cover.
Generali China Life Insurance: This provider has harnessed several advanced technologies to give its customers constant access to a host of digital services. The company’s Pocket Insurance mobile-app allows customers to interact with the insurer and, through an extensive ecosystem, a wide range of healthcare providers and their loyalty schemes. The Pocket Insurance service incorporates facial recognition technology as well as optical character recognition to provides users with a highly-secure digital environment for insurance and healthcare inquiries, claims and transactions. Pocket Insurance has improved substantially the service Generali China Life Insurance provides its customers while also curbing the company’s operating expenses.
NTUC Income: The Singaporean financial services provider is making a splash by offering commuters on-demand cover to offset the consequences of the island’s frequent rain storms. Its Droplet offering provides insurance for users of ride-hailing services eager to avoid price-surges caused by sudden downpours. The app-based service uses the predictive modelling capabilities of DataRobot to analyze vast volumes of weather forecasting and ride-hailing data and provide customers with dynamic pricing. NTUC plans to add further on-demand products onto the microservices platform it developed for the launch of Droplet.
In my next blog post, I’ll highlight some of the insurance innovators that are gaining a competitive advantage by swiftly deploying AI throughout their organizations and along their value chains. You can learn more about the Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards at https://www.efma.com/innovationininsurance/.
