Digitalisation has certainly become a buzzword in the insurance industry, as businesses adapt to meet changing customer expectations for seamless, fast, and personalised experiences. Of course, it’s easy to jump straight to robotic assistants and Generative AI large language models when thinking of the biggest digital transformation trends. But what are the most impactful ways digitalisation is making insurance processes more efficient? What role are these crucial innovations playing in reshaping the insurance industry for a smarter future? Here are IS2’s top four…
A single view of the truth
A lack of data, or poor data quality, is the enemy of successful digitalisation. Harnessing the ability to capture data and insight to build a single customer lifecycle view – a single version of the truth, not only saves countless hours, it also delivers vastly-enhanced and enriched levels of customer centricity.
With a multi-channel implementation it’s vital there is only one data repository, no matter which channel is retrieving or storing the data. Benefits include an improved ability to react quickly to customer needs and market opportunities. A single source of the truth boosts agile decision making, whilst streamlining processes and reducing the cost to serve. It’s also key to powering omni-channel distribution, with a distribution chain with many possible entry and exit points, it’s vital that only one version of the data exists.
Omni-channel activation
Thanks to advances in digitalisation, new distribution channels have emerged. Whether it’s retail, wholesale, both, embedded within a partner channel, offered on a broker portal, or software house, being ready and able to serve opportunities that arise to extend distribution reach, can only be a good thing. This can also include leveraging existing software assets already in your estate, by using a modern platform that can reside in your eco-system.
Using a ‘build it once’ open approach via APIs can further deliver product and pricing through any kind of distribution channel. It’s about extending distribution reach for the many, not the few. Improved personalisation of products and services delivered via a diversified range of distribution channels serves to not only provide customers with increased access to services, but empowers insurers to activate new products at speed, and lower cost.
Smooth back-office operations
It’s not just front of house that is seeing the benefit of digitalised efficiency gains. Digitalisation is speeding up policyholder onboarding, driving streamlined policy administration, and automating renewals. Digital platforms are taking the complexity out of accounting and delivering real-time metrics and management information, advanced reporting, and enhanced regulatory compliance. Digital platforms are integrating traditionally disparate systems and data sources into a unified solution.
This allows back-office teams to work more efficiently and collaboratively, thanks to improved workflows and task management, and make decisions faster for more dynamic customer experiences. As well as eliminating human error and lowering operational costs, it frees up more time for staff to do what they do best – delivering superior outcomes for customers.
Scalability and futureproofing
Cloud-native platform infrastructures built using containerised or modular API-powered architectures are leveraging huge efficiency gains for insurers. They can scale up operations, products, and services without huge hardware costs - allowing them to expand into new markets and serve the needs of a larger customer base with ease and agility. Likewise, they can add or upgrade functionalities such as integrated underwriting portals, policy administration and claims management tools. They can even deploy Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning innovations to optimise pricing, forecast risks, and proactively anticipate customer needs. Insurers can therefore plan for future growth, expansion, and differentiation.
A key challenge faced my many insurers has been the maintenance of product pricing. We see many implementations where the pricing is deployed in isolation for a given channel, yes there are some build economies achieved as the digital product is essentially duplicated for other channels. This approach however means maintenance and price/rating changes become a difficult and protracted exercise, as changes are required in multiple places.
Not only that, but the data that supports the channel often resides in silos. So for example - an internal user cannot pick up and complete a part completed end customer journey, which commenced in another customer facing channel. Underwriters looking to offer referrals on revised terms don’t have access to the same data in real-time and the workflow becomes disjointed.
At IS2 our customers benefit from single origin pricing, so any product we implement is built only once and available in any channel through our platform’s (Atlas) API. The data also resides in only one place and stays in sync at any entry point in the distribution chain.
This approach also means that any potential partners our customers have, can also access their products through our API. Atlas is pioneering in the way it uniquely allows insurers and MGAs to activate multiple distribution channels for any product at speed, digitise scheme pricing via hosted API and deliver full-cycle digital customer and partner journeys across those multiple channels. It has removed the need for multiple instances of scheme pricing and the logistical and maintenance issues that comes with that.
It allows insurers to ‘build once’ and distribute products via any channel, delivering significant cost savings to the insurer and, vitally, a reduced time to market meaning that they can seize on and maximise new market opportunities as they arise. In summary, digitalisation is revolutionising the insurance industry by making it more efficient and profitable - streamlining policy build, advancing decision-making, growing distribution, and building in customer centricity.