Impact of digitalisation. How to enable customer-friendly insurance experiences

By 2026, there will be 7.5 billion smartphone users globally ¹. Today’s smartphones are literally supercomputers at our fingertips with approximately 100,000 times more computing power ² than Apollo 11, the spaceship that reached the moon. Coupled with rapid digitisation due to the pandemic, the wide usage of the smartphone is unprecedented. Statista’s report showed that the daily time spent on mobile devices will have increased from 132 minutes per day in 2020 to 143 minutes at the end of 2021 ³.   

Financial services have been democratised through on-the-go consumption enabling mass market segments in developing economies to benefit from financial inclusion. I have been reading JP Morgan’s report, ‘Payments are eating the world’ ⁴, and the data points are mind-boggling. I would like to share some of the insights which will influence the design of insurance offerings so that they are relevant to consumers, anchored around ease of access and payment:
 

• Platforms:  In 2020, $36 trillion was transacted over various online payment platforms, of which almost 90% was dominated by China ⁴. This leaves room for opportunities and growth outside of China. As a reference, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), the digital economy contributes nearly 40% ⁶ of the country's GDP in 2020. In comparison, it is 12% ⁷ for US , 7.7% ⁸ for UK and 4% ⁹  for Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest country.
  
  
• Super apps ¹⁰: On average, an adult has ⁴ daily. The rate of adoption is growing faster in the East than the West ¹². Having recently moved from Latin America to Asia, I can certainly testify to the huge opportunities for the super app market in both regions. I can also see the similarities between the two regions where the younger generation grew up in the mobile era as digital natives, generating growth for the digital economy which includes fintech and e-commerce players. Without legacy systems and complex processes, these players have created an amazing ecosystem from ride hailing, delivery, to payments and insurance.
  
  
• eCommerce. According to Boston Consulting Group, eCommerce grew an additional 5 trillion dollars during the pandemic, 40% of the online grocery shoppers were first timers and 90% of them ⁴ had a positive experience and will keep purchasing online. eCommerce has indeed become part of our daily life.
  
  
• Mobile wallets. This is a phenomenon in emerging markets with Southeast Asia topping the growth trajectory. I have previously shared that more than 2.8 billion mobile wallets were in use in 2020 worldwide, according to Boku’s Mobile Wallets Report 2021 ¹⁴. The Report forecasts this number to increase by nearly 74% over the next four years, to reach a total of 4.8 billion by the end of 2025.
  
  
• Connected world: IoT (Internet of Things) is gaining adoption. In the automobile sector, it is projected that 95% of new cars will be connected to the internet by 2030 ⁴ and will have the computing power of 200 PCs. Wearables, connected to the web and another contactless payment channel, will grow to over 1.1 billion devices in 2022 ⁴.

When we look at new possibilities to connect insurance with trends in digital payments, we have pivoted to embrace the following principles:  

• Find new business partners: Insurers need to understand how to work with online platforms, eCommerce, super apps and mobile wallets as new business partners. With their access to a large customer base that consumes financial services on-the-go, their protection needs can be triggered on a highly contextual basis. We can then offer relevant and “ad hoc” insurance protection that is connected and relevant to what the consumer is doing. This requires a robust API platform to develop a real-time experience at scale. Chubb invested in and launched Chubb Studio® ¹⁷ in 2020 to go-to-market quickly with neobanks, eCommerce platforms, super apps, mobile wallets, airlines and many other tech platforms.
  
  
• Identify new customer segments: Globally, there are new consumer segments – millennials, Gen Z and other digitally savvy consumers - and a growing middle class in developing economies like Latin America and Southeast Asia. The workforce is also changing with the rise of the ‘gig worker.’ This segment is projected to transact more than $450 billion by 2023 ¹⁸ according to Mastercard. Along with greater flexibility associated with gig economy, there are pain points such as income volatility, safety and medical needs. At Chubb, we have addressed some of these concerns with a specific value proposition. Leveraging data, together with our underwriting expertise, we have become one of the market leaders in partnering with the largest gig platforms to deliver insurance solutions to their driver and delivery partners.
  
  
• Create a ‘wow’ customer experience: Digital engagement is very much about the customer experience. Chubb has a co-creation process with its partners to use design thinking in creating unique solutions for customers. Besides tailoring a relevant insurance product, the end-to-end process through to the claim submission, has to be simple and easy. We have been successful in ‘wowing’ our digital partners, scoring an exceptionally high NPS (Net Promoter Score) compared to traditional channels.
  
  
• Leveraging Data:  For us to apply all of the above principles, we must be ahead in applying data to make the offer relevant to the consumer. Data helps to streamline and optimise offerings in real time and also learn about all the interactions of the customers along their journey. Leveraging revenue maximisation techniques, machine learning and algorithm programs, our data scientists and digital analysts then optimize every customer interaction.

Chubb aspires to partner with consumer brands which have similar ambitions of thriving in the digital world. We recognise that consumers are embracing digital as integral to their daily life and insurance must be part of it. Ease of access and use (including payment options) will increase financial inclusion for the mass market segment. It is time to exercise the power of the smartphone in your hands.

If you are keen to learn how Chubb can collaborate with you to enable a customer-friendly insurance experience, please contact Serene Neo, Division Head of Consumer Lines, at serene.neo@chubb.com.