siliconindia | | June 20218IN FOCUSHOW TECHNOLOGY IS TRANSFORMING THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN INDIABy si Teamhe insurance industry in India has seen major growth in the last decade. The industry today comprises 63 insurance companies (24 Life insurers and 39 non-life insurers) and is governed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). The industry has transformed from a seller's market to a buyer's market over the last two decades. Further, the market in India is expected to grow to $250 billion by 2025. Demographic factors such as growing middle class, young insurable population, and growing awareness of the need for protection and retirement planning will support the growth of Indian Life insurance. The future of the Insurance industry in India seems quite promising, and the above-mentioned figure prominently reflects the positive disruption caused by the digitalization of the industry.TRANSFORMATIONSRapid digital adoption in India (est. 829 million internet users by 2021) has created much-needed opportunities and infrastructure for insurance players to reach Indian customers. However, traditional insurers are still struggling with simplifying policy terms, settlement procedures, mutual trust deficits of buyers and sellers, and differentiating products that can help customers buy without much confusion. This is where InsurTech players have identified their opportunity. With the onset of InsurTech, the entire insurance buying experience in India has become completely dynamic and covers end-to-end customer journeys with highly customized and relevant services. India has over 110 InsurTech players spread across different sub-segments, such as aggregators, claims management, digital-first insurers, software white label and infrastructure APIs, and IoT. InsurTechs are solving the affordability challenge by innovating small-ticket and low-duration insurance products.Not just that but today, insurance interactions have become more `phygital' (mix of physical and digital), although increasingly bending more towards the digital side. Insurance companies are exploring options beyond the traditional banking institutions for their insurance requirements and banks are partnering with fintech companies to provide services faster and at a lower cost. This new way of servicing is benefiting insurers as well as banks as they are retaining clientele while consumers are getting better customer services from the fintech companies. Apart from that, the technology advancements have also found their application across different aspects of the insurance business including sales, claims, underwriting, as well as customer service. Leveraging the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), insurance providers of the current era are offering simplified insurance plans to end consumers, thereby developing higher trust levels with them.Data-backed underwriting services have enabled insurance companies and insurance web aggregators to offer personalized premium quotes to their consumers. Another way, in which technology has positively impacted the insurance sector is the automation of claim services which has made the claim processing faster and easier for consumers.POTENTIAL USAGE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRYIn today's world, AI and ML have made analytics processes more accurate than before. The AI/ML-backed IN TODAY'S WORLD, AI AND ML HAVE MADE ANALYTICS PROCESSES MORE ACCURATE THAN BEFORET
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