Digital transformation has been the order of the day for most industries, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. For the insurance industry, however, the changes in market dynamics have been radical and the call for smart digitalization is loud and clear. Given that the business of insurance is complex, and the offering involves intangible value through long-term contracts, it is imperative that we investigate the factors which ask for disruptive digital innovation.

There are two stakeholders that deserve the attention of the insurers – the consumers and the distributors. Higher awareness about the need to purchase insurance products wisely, longer hours spent online to research, compare, and gather information, an incumbent need for simpler processes to work on policy documentation and claims, a consistent experience across all channels are a few things that characterize the new age insurance customer.

On the other hand, distributors are looking to be more empowered in their sales approach, asking for access to tools and processes that enable them to be true advisors for customer’s informed decision making and faster turnaround on the issuance of policies, response to customer queries, better financial incentives and so on…

Let us look at some of the key factors that will determine the nature of digital transformation for the insurance sector in the times to come:

1. Time to Market – A fast-changing socio-economic environment which houses today’s customer leaves the insurer with little time to adapt. New or tailor-made products need to meet the market with agility. Standard processes like underwriting, claim verification and processing, submission of documents, etc should be optimized to both the customer’s and distributor’s advantage. This calls for nimble tech solutions which can swiftly be adapted for new products, new geographies, and new customer requirements. Low-code or No-code (NCLC) solutions could empower distributors to connect with customers, analyze needs and illustrate products as per each customer’s need and profile, gather and share information faster to complete e-application, submission, and underwriting, redress complaints promptly and work with shorter sales cycles.
   C2L BIZ Promise: Products, Channels, Processes, and Business rules that typically took months to launch can now go to market in days and weeks. 
2. Consistency of experience across physical and digital channels – Today, the same customer is available at multiple POS points – S/he could be in a meeting with a distributor, at a bank outlet, at a self-service portal, kiosk, or an online aggregator site. These multifarious distribution channels make the insurance sales process more complex than it already is. The customer demands an easier and consistent experience across these channels while the distributor needs tools and means for informed, well-guided, timely selling.
   Tech solutions that offer a unified, well-structured interface for information, real-time comparison, and transaction processing can enhance customer confidence and can allow for consistent customer communication by all distribution channels.
   C2L BIZ Promise: Omnichannel solutions with ready-to-use APIs or at times, which can be quickly adapted and plugged in to interact with external applications and gateways, can make transactions across channels seamless. 
3. Adaptability to regulatory compliances – Adherence to regional regulations is time-sensitive yet cumbersome. Today, regulators demand visibility at every stage of the insurance sale and transaction processing. It has a hawk’s eye on the customer’s risk profile, authentication of the distribution channel, information shared with the customer, execution of the policy, collection of premiums as well as disbursal of claims. A well-ironed tech solution is critical that not only allows transparency and facilitates the customer and distributor sales engagement process but also ensures that the insurer is compliant with the laws of the land.
   C2L BIZ Promise:  Create and comply with regulatory processes and business rules or even quickly adapt to changes. Bring in unmatched resilience and start leveraging every regulatory challenge as an opportunity to get ahead in business.

The insurer, therefore, needs tech products that address the changing needs of the customer, distributor, and the regulatory environment. In the long run, the costs of operating siloed tech solutions that are programmed for specific channels and market conditions are much higher than well-designed enterprise solutions.

Pay-as-you-go cloud-based solutions which allow the insurer to scale or reduce usage in dynamic response to the market needs, are advisably affordable.

Having served the insurance industry globally with innovative tech solutions for decades, our team at C2L BIZ has learned that: to be a successful, fast-growing player in the industry, an insurer needs to be:

1. Resilient to new age business models
2. Interoperate in splitting value chains
3. Package innovative products and bundle them with other players

We, at C2L BIZ, are always open to exchanging more insights and conversations that help us address these vital needs of the insurance players worldwide.

– Mr. Mangesh Vaitla
Co-Founder & Executive Director – C2L BIZ