Page 8 - The Insurance Times June 2020

eign travel for the insurers' chairman, or product manufacturers (Tesla) offer The number of Gen X and older cus-
managing directors, directors and gen- to-notch consumer experience, said tomers making daily online and mobile
eral managers, unless to acquire fresh the report. transactions has doubled, rising from
international business or negotiating Sample this data point: while only 17 30 per cent of Gen X (those born be-
reinsurance agreements. per cent of Capgemini's World Insur- fore 1980) and older respondents in
ance Report 2016 survey respondents 2018 to 64 per cent in 2020.
Bajaj Allianz General said they would consider purchasing in- The Covid-19 lockdown will further fuel
launches BAGIV GOQii Co- surance from BigTech, the number has this trend as consumers are forced to
doubled (36 per cent) this year. use digital channels for day-today
pay option Clearly, customer behaviour is shifting transactions irrespective of age or tech
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has in favour of BigTech insurance provid- know-how.
tied up with GOQii, a smart-tech en- ers as customers feel empowered to
abled preventive healthcare platform, forego agents and brokers and work ECGC to help exporters in
and launched a new add-on health directly with new entrants.
cover called 'BAGIC GOQii Co-pay Op- new markets
tion' under regulatory sandbox ap- Need to innovate The Export Credit Guarantee Corpora-
proval received from IRDAI. This option This should sound alarm bells for in- tion (ECGC) is ready to support export-
will be an add-on cover which can be cumbent insurers as their long stand- ers in their endeavour to expand to
opted for by the holders of company's ing hold on customer trust can no new markets especially to Africa and
existing health insurance policy, Health longer be assumed. Insurers seeking to Latin America, said ECGC chairman and
Ensure. retain or jump start customer sticki- managing director M Senthilnathan
ness, loyalty, and confidence must shift
The policy will start with a co-pay of 50 their experience-led engagement ef- during a webinar organized by CII. The
per cent on the completion of day 60, forts into high gear, the report sug- session deliberated upon the need for
after which the insured can check his/ gested. To remain relevant, incumbent cost-effective insurance to drive ex-
her engagement level and co-pay level insurers must take action by re-evalu- ports and bring back growth in the
on the GOQii app itself, every 30 days. ating their portfolios and harnessing economy.
Based on the engagement level, the partnerships to become 'Inventive In- Senthilnathan mentioned that ECGC is
co-pay percentage will change. The surers'. This involves shaping existing working under pandemic-related re-
maximum co-pay level would not be products to meet fast evolving cus- strictions but it is trying to provide ser-
more than 50 per cent. The option can tomer needs and preferences. vices to their clients, who are affected
be availed by individual policyholders due to Covid-containment measures.
with a policy tenure of one year with The entry of product manufacturers
an insured sum of Rs. 3 lakh, Rs. 4 lakh such as Tesla into insurance may mark "The crisis is much worse compared to
or Rs. 5 lakh. a critical juncture for the insurance the one witnessed after global finan-
industry, according to the report. cial meltdown a decade earlier. The
'Customers' appetite for Product manufacturers have a keen working capital cycle of almost all the
understanding of their products and business units have been impacted.
BigTech insurance rising their customers, details an insurer may ECGC will be playing a counter cyclical
fast not have. Besides, product manufac- role. It recognizes that the situation
Customers' willingness to purchase in- turers collect real-time customer data calls for some credit accommodation
surance from big technological firms is using IoT devices or mobile apps. and credit insurers need to take high
risks," he added.
rising fast, the Capgemini and Efma's Leveraging this asymmetric information,
World Insurance Report 2020 has product manufacturers could aggres- Sanjay Budhia, chairman, CII National
shown. This is a clear pointer that con- sively price insurance offerings and put Committee on EXIM, said that in these
sumers - who demand superior experi- incumbents at a disadvantage, the re- trying times, managing credit risk and
ence in terms of ease of purchase and port noted. Noting that digital adoption taking protection against unforeseen
convenience - are eager to take a is no longer a function of age but is now losses has assumed further importance
chance when non-traditional firms such mainstream across generations, the re- and there is a need to increase the
as digitally-agile BigTechs (such as port highlighted that the ' millennial flow of bank credit to export sector
Google, Amazon, Facebook, Alibaba) mindset' has transcended age. and timely settlement of claims. R

8 The Insurance Times, June 2020