In this blog, we will look into the meaning and implications of digital transformation in insurance. Before diving into it, let us break down the concept for a thorough understanding.
What do you understand by Digital Transformation?
Digital refers to the application of processes, methods of electronics, and the utilization of electronic devices. Whereas, transformation refers to change or gradual evolution in the workings of an organization. Bringing the two terms together, we have digital transformation. Let us see the full potential of it that can be extracted and maximized with the help of cutting-edge technology for boosting the insurance industry.
What about the Insurance Industry?
Insurance refers to a financial product whose purchase allows insurers to pay for damages incurred by customers due to unforeseen circumstances, loss, or destruction due to reasons covered by the insurer. Customers are required to sign a contract and make regular payments, also called premiums, to the insurer.
Crossing of Digital Transformation and the Insurance Industry:
The humble beginning of the evolution in the insurance industry was with the advent of scanners and algorithms to pricing insurance premiums, bringing in precision and accuracy. The insurance companies employed the Internet to sell insurance products to the clients. This paved the way for a novel source of revenue and profited the insurance company with increased customer loyalty and well-established retention. Digital transformation has seen the adoption of digital technology such as data analytics. This enabled the companies to better analyze the client’s needs, adapt to their preferences, and make use of the information to open new services and ways of generating revenue. Digitalization has allowed for the enhancement and satisfaction of customer engagement and focused data-driven decision-making. This also allows for the production of inventive products that cater to evolving market trends and consumer needs.
The different types of Insurance
1. Life Insurance and General Insurance
Life insurance has payment options based on an annual monthly quarterly or daily basis. It includes a whole-life policy where the nominated person is paid the insurance amount only after the death of the insured. This type of insurance can sometimes restrict payment to twenty or thirty years or can mandate payment for the entire lifetime. Another type is the endowment life insurance policy, wherein the insurer pays the insured the amount equivalent to the number of years required. Joint life policy helps a couple to ensure safety in cases of loss. In this type of insurance, the couple can make individual installments or joint payments to form a lump sum amount. This amount can be used by either of the two in case of death of any of the two. In an annuity policy, the insured is paid the amount on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Lastly, another kind of life insurance is a children’s endowment policy, where the children of the age, specified in the policy agreed upon by the insurer and the insured, are paid a fixed amount.
General insurance includes different types of insurance, such as fire, marine, health, burglary, etc. Fire insurance covers expenses of loss due to fire. Marine insurance covers expenses related to damage caused by sea to the hull, cargo, or freight.
2. Digital Insurance
Digital insurance refers to technologies that make the insurance processes seamless and faster. The insurance policies’ sales and management are taken care of with the help of technology. What makes this different from traditional insurance policies is based on certain features.
1. Customer priority: Digital insurance ensures that customers are given personalized assistance.
2. Multiple channels: This provides information on services on multiple channels, showing a strong presence and increasing its accessibility to potential customers.
3. Insur-Tech ecosystem: This refers to the united working of APIs, microservices, and web services. It helps in optimizing the customer experience. This is done so by making use of chatbots, smart home solutions, vehicle safety solutions, etc. It is also considered one of the insurance technologies. Chatbots act as virtual assistants, saving time and costs in providing support to customers and making them an efficient insurance technology.
3. AI is transforming insurance
Artificial Intelligence in insurance is helping digital transformation in insurance by its ability to predict behavior patterns, analyze data, handle claims, and contact center operations. It helps in risk estimation and risk-proofing. AI algorithms can help in fraud detection. Based on the emerging trends, AI in insurance helps in the development of innovative solutions while also creating a need for them. AI’s ability to assess the customer’s requirements helps in focused decision-making. AI in insurance helps insurers by speeding up claims processing and transforming underwriting. It allows for faster access to data and more accurate reporting, often without human intervention, resulting in quicker and more precise decision-making. This is an effective insurance technology that streamlines operations faster.
Making the best of AI with machine learning
Machine learning is another insurance technology. For effective use of AI, it is important to use ML and integrate it in a process called MLOps. It helps in insurance processes by improving claim processing through digitizing files and storing them on the cloud. The processing speed and accuracy can be used for policy administration and risk assessment.
Benefits of using Digital Life Insurance
Digital life insurance refers to services and products related to life insurance. They are fully provided, processed, and managed online. This boosts digital transformation as it gives more accessibility to customers. They can check quotes and policies and can make use of online purchases. Digital life insurance allows for digital documentation and automated underwriting, saving organizations time. The online platform allows customers to do their research and find suitable insurance premiums online.
Digitizing Insurance Marketing for Faster Digital Transformation
Insurance marketing refers to the marketing strategies to draw in clients for insurance plans. It helps in generating good leads for insurance when used effectively. Insurance marketing starts by using targeted keywords, content, a strong social media presence, and sharing insights on customer’s pain points through social media platforms.
Life insurance companies in India to watch out for
Some of the best life insurance companies are stated here based on the claim settlement ratio from 2022 to 2023. LIC of India has a CSR of 98.74%, Max Life Insurance has a CSR of 99.34%, HDFC Life Insurance’s CSR is 98.66%, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s CSR is 97.82% and Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance’s CSR is at 98.82%.
Conclusion
Digital transformation is helping the insurance sector and streamlining operations to a great extent. The incorporation of digital life insurance, insurance technology, and digital life insurance will help quicken the journey of digital transformation. Life insurance companies in India can benefit from digitally transforming their insurance processes and boosting overall productivity. Customer retention and generation will improve with digital transformation in the insurance sector.
