Insurance

The insurance industry is facing two major shifts.
Technology-driven digital disruption is accompanied by more demanding customers who are expecting highly personalized offers and new services.

At the first sight, it might seem that the insurance sector is not so much on strike by fintech companies as the financial sector. But as Deloitte study reveals, “This is an industry that may have less time to transform than it realizes. If insurance executives are measuring their progress in the journey towards digital transformation against their peers in the industry, they are likely using the wrong benchmark. The change will come from other sectors – and soon.”

This is a fact – profound change is required.

To avoid being left behind and to be able to meet high requirements, insurance companies must utilize new technology, including the adoption of a cloud platform, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Just to mention a few expectations:

• behaviour-based pricing where customers are entitled to an additional discount on car insurance in case of a high driving score or on health insurance in case of high exercise levels
• driving apps that help prevent car accidents
• smart home technology with security cameras, leak detectors, and smoke sensors that can prevent major damage

The claim management process is the next matter that remains a weak spot for insurers. Embedding AI into applications can profoundly improve customer experience and operational productivity in addition to saving time and money. Many steps can be automized, many back-office tasks solved by bots, tons of paperwork eliminated, drones can be leveraged to assess property claims and AI algorithms could significantly increase fraud detection and prevention.

To be able to offer such services and products, a 360-degree customer view is a must. Still, many insurance companies are struggling with data silos. Which is no surprise as many challenges are present. Numerous applications support different business areas – non-life, life, health, CRM, billing, sometimes even policy and claim management systems are separated. In addition, new kind of data is emerging from various devices and sensors. And at the same time, the insurance sector is becoming tightly regulated with a focus on the new IFRS 17 directives.