Page 33 - Insurance Times November 2021

technology include e-commerce, online news sites, ride- revolution, which has led to review and modifications of
sharing apps, and GPS systems. legacy systems and infrastructure to meet current
demands. Big data analytics play a major role in getting
Insurtech and the incursion of Emerging 360-degree insights of customer behaviour and
preferences.
Technologies
Insurtech is posing a challenge to the status quo of the Y App-based consumer engagement products
insurance industry. By using new emerging technologies, such Insurers are creating lifestyle apps that provide
as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation additional consumer value on a continuing basis.
(RPA), blockchain and Big Data they are overhauling
conventional processes of the insurance value chain to Y New sources of customer information
improve efficiency and increase the customer experience
Insurtech firms gather customer information through
significantly.
devices such as wearables and smart-phone apps. This
data is expected to incentivize better behavior and
A part of digital disruption is digitization of the business eventually lead to lower premiums.
process. It helps the organization by increasing its efficiency,
cost-effectiveness and productivity. Further it also makes the Y Using IoT (or Internet of Things)
organization more customer-friendly.
Numerous companies are now offering solutions based
on vehicle telematics, environmental sensors, asset
Some important Insurtech entities in tracking, and home security. Insurance companies have
India and abroad been among the earliest adopters of this technology as
There are a number of insurtech entities leveraging new this enables them to offer relevant packages based on
technology to enrich the insurance eco-system by offering actual use and behavior rather than averaged statistics.
innovative products and digital claims procedures geared to
modern customer preferences. Y Leveraging social media for meaningful
interaction
Some of the important players abroad are- ZhongAn in China; Insurtech companies effectively use social media for
Lemonade in USA; BIMA in Sweden; and Oscar Health, Slice efficient communication & interaction with people. They
and Trov in USA to name just a few representative entities. have realized that it is a convenient ally in connecting
Entities such as the Parisian firm Shift Technology, UK based with customers and thereby improving their business
Quantemplate and USA based Slice offer technical solutions volumes.
to the insurance industry.
Y Improved fraud management
In the Indian sector, Acko General Insurance which is totally Identifying fraudulent claims is often difficult. Predictive
digital and sells bite-sized products via online channels, Go analysis is now in use which uses a combination of rules,
Digit- the new Indian unicorn of 2021 and insurance start-up modeling, text mining, database searches, and exception
Toffee Insurance are amongst the well known insurtech reporting. This new technique identifies fraud sooner
entities in India. One of the oldest entities Mantra Labs, and more effectively.
Pentation Analytics, and Bengaluru based Artivatic Data Labs
are some other Indian entities well-known for their offerings Insurtech and disruption in the
of advanced technical solutions.
insurance industry
Contribution of Insurtech to the Though there are numerous Insurtech firms globally that are
addressing the requirements of the insurance industry, but
Insurance industry Insurtech is still in a stage of infancy. New exciting business
It would be necessary at this juncture to enumerate the models to take over the insurance industry, such as micro-
numerous contributions of Insurtech. It has enriched the insurance and pay-as-you-go insurance, have emerged.
insurance industry significantly.
Y Advanced data analytics capabilities But what will truly change the nature of the industry is the
Today's digital consumers have triggered a digital shift from complex, long-term insurance products to the

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