Insurers must explore new ways to build capabilities to meet the digital needs of customers as BigTechs and non-traditional players enter the insurance space, according to the World InsurTech Report 2020 (WITR) published today from Capgemini and Efma.
With COVID-19 increasing customer engagement and expectations, the World InsurTech Report 2020 outlines a growing opportunity for InsurTechs, as insurers focus on their digitalization efforts. As BigTechs make their presence felt in insurance, the boundaries between insurance, InsurTechs, BigTechs, and tech partners are blurring. Insurers need to improve on high-impact focus areas including customer centricity, intelligent processes, product agility and an open ecosystem to remain competitive.
Read More: BillingPlatform Increases Standing in MGI 360 Ratings Report for Agile Monetization Solutions
“Insurers have to look beyond other insurance companies as their competitors, and instead include BigTechs and other new non-traditional players, which are often offering a superior customer experience,” said Anirban Bose, CEO of Capgemini’s Financial Services Strategic Business Unit and Member of the Group Executive Board. “Forming scalable relationships with InsurTechs will help insurers digitize faster and more efficiently, deepening their customer relationships and helping them to fend off these new entrants.”
Read More: The Influence of Mobile Apps WeChat Pay and Alipay Extends Far Beyond China’s Borders
“Insurers need to become more customer-centric in everything they do,” said John Berry, CEO of Efma. “InsurTechs’ maturity and willingness to collaborate to bring new technology solutions to insurers are accelerating, aiding insurers to meet rising customer expectations.”
COVID-19’s sector-specific influence
COVID-19 impacted sub-sectors of the insurance market in different ways as life and health experienced a hike in claims, while travel and auto felt a decline. However, all insurance providers have felt changes in how their customers engaged with them. Even with over 90% of incumbents fully able now to conduct business remotely, they felt the COVID-19 impact on their new customer acquisition and retention. Some 61% of insurers in July vs. 57% in April believed COVID-19 impacted new customer acquisition, and 42% of insurers in July vs. 29% in April believed it impacted customer retention.
Read More: GlobalFintechSeries Interview with Jill Homan, President at DeepTarget
