AIA is one of the largest insurance companies in the world. Source: Shutterstock
What tech will attract investments from insurance companies in 2020?
AIA is one of the largest, public listed, pan-Asian insurance companies.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, AIA only launched an online sales platform last year. By tightening up processes, AIA made it possible for customers to purchase life, medical, and personal accident cover in under three minutes and ensured claims could be processed in two working days if documents were submitted digitally.
Although AIA’s efforts to go digital and deliver on customer expectations seem limited, they’re definitely doing better than most in the industry.
“This powerful digital initiative is designed to not only effectively address and satisfy customers’ digital preferences and habits, but also support AIA Hong Kong’s key undertaking of bringing together the best of technology to deliver a convenient, fast and easy digital purchase experience to our customers,” said AIA Hong Kong and Macau CEO Peter Crewe.
“It marks a major achievement in AIA Hong Kong’s digital journey and delivers an additional customer engagement channel that responds to customer needs, bringing to life our promise to help people live healthier, longer, better lives.”
In Asia, where insurers are aggressively pursuing digital transformation agendas, the question is: What technology will attract their attention in 2020?
According to Forrester Principal Analyst Ellen Carney, digital is now the essence of how customers engage and how carriers and agents operate.
“To learn how insurers are going to prioritize their emerging tech investments in 2020, we interviewed and surveyed nearly three dozen insurance business and technology decision-makers and solutions partners. We dug into their interests and tested the extent of their planned investments in 15 different technologies.”
As a result of the survey, Carney’s team found that artificial intelligence (AI) and conversational tech will see the greatest expansion of existing investments, while augmented/virtual/mixed reality and edge computing are the technologies that most insurers say they plan on implementing in the coming year.
“Forty-seven percent of insurance tech decision-makers call out AI as the top technology fueling their digital transformation strategy.”
Carney feels that there are plenty of ‘shiny tech’ investment options in the market that may distract insurers.
However, given the wafer-thin margins in the industry and the increasingly challenging competitive landscape in the region, insurers have no choice but to focus on making the investments that yield the greatest returns.
Ultimately, insurers that will win in the long-run are those that provide the right products, at the right price, and deliver on customer expectations of trust, transparency, and seamless connectivity.
Soumik Roy is a business and technology specialist. He helps small and medium enterprise owners understand what's most important to their company's growth and success.
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