Insurance companies often do not disclose the amount they invest in a digitalisation strategy but certainly, in order to have a closed ecosystem to serve customers, and to shorten complex processes, the investment is not small and digitalisation is not a short-term strategy.
Simultaneous changes
The life-insurance market in the recent time has witnessed technological races with the aim to better serve customers. Big names such as AIA, generali, Manulife, Prudential, etc. have invested heavily in technology to quickly respond to changes and increasing customer expectations.
Starting from the application of technology in the phase of analysing the needs to participate in insurance of customers with smart applications such as ePOS of Manulife, Genova of generali, My AIA of AIA, etc. Technology has made clear changes in the insurance market.
For example, in the past, to issue a set of insurance contract, the team of insurance advisors/ agents of insurance companies had to collect sufficient paper documents and receipts, bring to the agent representative office and wait for a long time until their turn.
However, the method has completely changed, which not only brings convenience to customers but also helps companies operate more effectively.
“On average, each month we process nearly 35,000 applications. Thus, the establishment of automatic assessment system is a top priority. This system allows agents to complete online insurance documents instead of paper applications. This method is also applied to automatic insurance claim and appraisal process,” said Kevin Kwon, Business manager of Manulife Vietnam.
According to Kevin, these improvements are great achievements in improving customer experience and have enabled Manulife to be in the leading position in the Vietnam’s life insurance market.
Certainly, in Vietnam, not only Manulife sees the future of digitalisation. Other insurance companies such as Prudential, Chubb Life, generali or FWD (which has joined the market for just a few years) have actively participate in this game. It is known that more than 80 percent of Prudential’s insurance applications are submitted online.
Meanwhile, focusing on technology and prioritising technologies which bring the best experience to customers and the agent team is one of generali’s long-term strategies.
From the end of 2017, this insurance company has used a series of new applications, including the application to help customers who submit their claims for insurance benefits (GenClaims) and the application of cash collection using digital technology GenPay. Currently, 80 percent of generali’s new contracts are automatic paperless automated process through the GENOVA application.
Furthermore, some insurance companies have even developed health monitoring applications (jogging, healthy eating, etc.), encouraging customers and people who are not yet customers to join, for a healthy life such as Manulife’s Move application and Genvita application of generali. For BIDV MetLife, the company has launched “Cung dinh huong tuong lai hanh phuc” information page, helping customers have a healthier lifestyle.
Some big insurance companies have also developed agency training programmes through smart softwares on mobile devices such as Iphone, Ipad, etc.
For example, in addition to digital applications to serve customers, Manulife has introduced Genie application that functions as a digital assistant for agents, helping them connect to the overall Manulife Vietnam’s ecological network to serve customers, and also support E-learning and online training.
“Transformation is not just about applying new technology platforms. With Manulife’s technology platform, at present, we continue to focus on managing changes in the near futures by developing appropriate training programmes for employees and distribution channel. From there, we can deliver relevant content and increase the rate of technology application more efficiently,” said Kevin.
A tough road
Undeniably, for insurance industry, new technologies (Insurance technology Insurtech) involved big data, Artificial intelligence (AI), digital technologies, telematics, etc. have been changing the sector every day, etc.
However, there are views that insurance technology is not “rosy” as many people think and investing in digital technology of insurance companies in Vietnam is just a marketing strategy.
These views are sceptical about the frequency of using the applications for insurance premium payment as well as payment applications that insurance companies are deploying.
“Insurance customers often pay the fee on a quarterly basis, even once a year. Many customers pay through digital banking or use banks’ automatic deduction service. Payment of compensation also does not occur often.
Since insurance is different from banking field, the frequency of customers using such utilities is not much. Thus, the most sustainable direction of insurance companies is still to gradually improve the agency level and enhance the ability of direct consultancy,” said an expert in the industry.
Talking to Dau tu Chung khoan about the story of digitising insurance industry, general director of a life insurance company said that many years ago, there were concerns that technology would “kill” many traditional fields.
In fact, it has not happened in that way, although many industries have experienced significant changes due to the impact of technology, greatly affecting companies which have been operating for a long time in the industry, such as Airbnb in hotel industry, Uber and Grab in the taxi industry.
However, for finance, banking, insurance industries, over the past decade, technology has been making a positive change and not disrupting the business that has been established for hundreds of years.
For insurance industry, technology helps business management be more efficient, provides better customer experience but does not completely replace human. Even in developed markets such as Europe and the US, majority of customers still expect to have direct consultancy with insurance agents.
In addition to the reason that most insurance products are inherently complex which need direct advice, another reason is that most customers still want interaction with insurance consultants to be cleared of concerns and create trust. This is even more appropriate in developing markets like Vietnam.
Although it does not replace people in insurance industry, technology has been quickly changing customers’ behaviours and needs.
Nowadays, customers have the needs to find information about companies, products and services through many different channels and expect to be served anytime, anywhere. Therefore, to survive and develop well, insurance companies should consider digital technology as one of the top strategic priorities.
The digitisation vision is being seen as a huge opportunity for companies to move forward by promoting a customer-centric strategy and it shows that customers can operate completely different from the way the market is operating.
Nevertheless, all changes have certain concerns, barriers and disturbances, particularly for long-standing traditional insurance companies. This road has many difficulties and requires consistent investment in finance, manpower and time.
