It’s a time of reflection and anticipation at The Fintech Times throughout December, as we look back at developments and trends over the last 12 months and forward to the year ahead.
We’re excited to share the thoughts of fintech CEOs and industry leaders from across the globe to 2023’s key takeaways and what we should expect to be top of the agenda in 2024.
Today, we take a look at the insurance industry with leaders offering perspectives on various topics, such as the importance of customised insurance solutions, the expansion of embedded partnerships between insurers and retailers, the impact of digital transformation and the transformative potential of generative AI.
Resilience of innovation
Joyce Segall, global head of insurance, innovation and strategy at a tech-driven insurance provider Pattern, reflects on 2023, highlighting the importance of customised insurance solutions for consumers and why she expects further growth in travel and booking in the year ahead.
“In 2023, we learned about the resilience to innovate, grow, and expand as the world was leaving Covid behind, but not the lessons of Covid. Consumers are eagerly booking and registering for travel, tours, events, school, and other amateur sports activities.
“Whether they are booking an event venue, vacation, single day adventure, sports league or school sports season, consumers are willing to consider a relevant, timely, easy to understand protection customised to their needs. In lockstep, our insurance carrier partners were willing to collaborate with Pattern to develop customised solutions to support an insurance offer embedded seamlessly within a consumer’s booking/registration journey.
“In 2024, Pattern expects to see continued growth in the travel, registration and booking space, as well as expansive opportunities to leverage our embedded service platform (Flexit) allowing distributors maximum flexibility to support the cancellation needs of their customers. A/B testing and machine learning capabilities will be core to the continued success of embedded protection programmes.
“Insurtech platforms with deep insurance, product, analytics, machine-learning, and customer experience who can operate across countries and regions will be instrumental to delivering value to consumers, brands, and risk carriers. Pattern is excited for 2024.”
Higher engagement focus
Phil Denman, CEO of Capacity Insights, an intermediary for insurers, predicts the expansion of embedded, hybrid partnerships between insurers and UK retailers.
“In 2023, as financial services become dominated by ever larger global giants, the opportunities for nimble SME’s have expanded as those companies simply can’t deploy at a smaller scale; and the definition of smaller is getting bigger each year. That leaves headroom in market areas that were dominated by mainstream players but are now becoming more niche, and niche is where we can find value and combine our underwriting with vibrant new services and tech layers.
“My prediction for 2024 in our verticals of UK consumer lines insurance is the further expansion of embedded, hybrid partnerships between insurers and technologically advanced retailers. Customer expectations in terms of higher engagement products are the antithesis of traditional insurance models where the limitation of claims outlay was of paramount importance to insurance companies.
“Through the integration of insurance in high engagement retail brands whilst using sophisticated, shared data, these partnerships can deliver an optimal solution where high engagement and lower costs are realised. Intelligent auto-assistants using advanced language models will continue to add value and essential to support for customers as throughout the product lifecycle from point of sale to claim payout which will involve parametric payments at an increasing frequency.
“I perceive some regulatory pinch points where the desired frictionless transactional process creates potentially for customer harm, but this is where I see the opportunities for companies like Capacity Insights who can advise and deliver harmonised solutions capable of delivering value and positive outcomes for all stakeholders.”
Customer-centricity
The insurance industry underwent remarkable shifts in 2023, according to Janthana Kaenprakhamroy, CEO of Tapoly, an on-demand insurance provider for SMEs and freelancers. She highlights the pivotal role of digital transformation, data, cybersecurity, sustainability and AI in the insurance industry.
“First and foremost, digital transformation became a non-negotiable aspect of survival in 2023. Insurers that embraced technology gained a substantial advantage over their peers. Data emerged as the industry’s new currency, with insurers leveraging it for underwriting, risk assessment, and improving customer experiences. Cyber insurance took centre stage as cyber threats continued to surge.
“Sustainability and ESG factors became significant considerations, prompting insurers to integrate environmental and social goals into their operations. Regulatory scrutiny intensified, emphasising the need for compliance and transparency.
“Looking ahead to 2024, we anticipate further dominance of AI and automation, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. Personalised insurance products will thrive, driven by data analytics and AI. The insurance industry will play a more prominent role in addressing climate change, with sustainable products gaining traction. Collaboration and partnerships will drive innovation, while regulatory evolution will continue to shape the industry. The hybrid workforce model will become standard, impacting operations.
“In summary, 2023 laid the foundation for exciting developments in 2024, and adaptability and customer-centricity will be our guiding principles in the coming year. Here’s to a prosperous and forward-thinking 2024!”
Impact of gen AI
Addressing the transformative impact of generative AI and its implications for the insurance industry in 2024 is Elad Tsur, co-founder and CEO of commercial insurance data platform Planck.
“2023 showed the world would change forever with gen AI. Many organisations came to understand that gen
AI performs language-based tasks equal to human ability. Its ability to ‘understand’ requests and questions, perform tasks, and communicate at a human language level allowed gen AI to successfully assume menial functions across several industries and positively augment many complex undertakings.
“In 2024, there is quite a lot on the horizon for gen AI. Hallucinations are an area that will be addressed first. The models will be much more accurate, and will support real-time data gathering and processing to dramatically improve the initial accuracy of these models. There will also be many industry-specific models, all relying on the latest advancements in the generic large language models (LLMs), but each will have its own unique capabilities.
“Apart from the very early adopters, gen AI models in 2024 won’t replace human beings in complex decisioning, but will more likely be used in decision-aiding platforms. Lastly, for the insurance industry, I do expect that in 2024 each role in the insurance company will be much more efficient, spending more time truly assessing the anomalies and various risks out there, and not spending too much time on the mundane routine tasks.”
