As we all know, in the process of digitalization, the insurance industry has always been a representative of traditional conservativeness. But in recent years, some people in the industry have been using technology to transform their businesses, and the benefits are obvious: improving process processing speed, fraud detection, improving customer loyalty and cost savings.
Recently, Intelligent Insurer, a well-known Internet magazine in the field of insurance innovation, selected 15 companies, fully recognized the practice of their new technologies and provided unprecedented opportunities for the insurance industry to improve operational efficiency and revenue growth.
1
B3i: blockchain collaboration, comprehensively speed up and improve efficiency
Blockchain Insurance Industry Alliance (B3i) was founded in 2016. It aims to to simplify the development, testing and commercialization of blockchain solutions . Its goal is to improve the efficiency of the entire insurance industry value chain - up to 30% . These innovative solutions benefit insurers and end customers by increasing business processes speed, transparency, data quality, security and cost.
This alliance has about 40 members, including Swiss Re, SCOR, Zurich Insurance and Allianz Group, etc., facing the problems of inefficiency, loss of value, and credit risks in the traditional insurance industry. Through the application of blockchain, functions such as record preservation, value transfer, smart contracts can be realized without the need for a third party, and have characteristics such as inertia, effectively promoting the unity and sharing of the insurance system and reducing the intermediate costs of insurance.
2
CyberCube: The network risk model helps underwriting
This network risk modeling tool was launched in March 2018 to fill the gap in the specialized network risk product market in the insurance industry . CyberCube uniquely combines big data , artificial intelligence and actuarial science in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to help insurance companies make better decisions when underwriting network risks, managing risk aggregation and catastrophic network events.
In recent years, cybersecurity risks have further intensified, and according to a new report by Accenture, global companies may cause $5.2 trillion in revenue losses due to cyber attacks in the next five years. Then, the cyber risk market is still limited because of the lack of reliable analytical technology to accurately price all cyber risk, or a comprehensive understanding of systemic risks. CyberCube will quantify cyber risks and strengthen its awareness of various cyber risk scenarios to assist insurance companies in underwriting.
At present, CyberCube has reached cooperation with Anda Insurance (Chubb), Munich Re, Jiada Re insurance brokerage (Guy Carpenter), Aon (Aon) and the American CNA Insurance Group. In July 2019, CyberCube was also rated as a "technical pioneer" by the World Economic Forum.
3
E-trading: Transaction automation, improve efficiency
This may not sound like the most innovative development, but the e-trading (electronic trading) platform has indeed changed the insurance industry because it has become the preferred tool for daily trading.
From Allianz (Allianz) to Liberty Mutual and even the historic London Lloyd's, there are not many places that do not conduct some form of electronic transactions, as the new e-trading platform is still being launched regularly.
Since paper trading is the choice of traditional media, change will always encounter some resistance, but in the UK, brokers are increasingly digitalizing and embracing electronic trading. According to a research conducted by consulting firm FWD in July 2019, 94% of brokers of currently trade by electronic means.
4
Expert System: Natural language processing technology, accelerate automation
Insurance companies find it difficult to manage large amounts of information in a timely and effective manner, let alone obtain the greatest value from it. Expert System uses artificial intelligence (AI) to develop natural language programming (NLP) to understand text by "imitating human thinking."
The company has partnered with large insurance companies to provide client-facing chatbots, natural language Q&A, automatic email classification and smart search application .
The company's technology also provides enhanced robot process automation (RPA) applications for claim management, policy underwriting, audit support, third-party risk management, anti-money laundering and legal compliance procedures, and cybersecurity intelligence.
5
Groundspeed: Artificial intelligence mines hidden data treasure
American insurance technology company Groundspeed uses artificial intelligence to extract key data from unstructured documents to accelerate commercial insurance performance . The company's customers said 80% of data was lost before using Groundspeed, and the remaining 20% were mainly used for operational purposes. Groundspeed collects, enhances and extracts data based on orders, thereby improving profitability, discovering profitable business pools, and improving customer experience.
In April 2019, Aon Insurance cooperated with the company and said that it had extracted "valuable insights" from its historical insurance documents. These documents helped Aon determine the root cause of the claim, industry benchmarks, and the loss-to-premium income ratio.
6
Hi Marley: Artificial intelligence improves customer service
Massachusetts-based insurance technology company Hi Marley, uses artificial intelligence to simplify customer information and claims processing services, and is committed to improving customer experience . Hi Marley is known as "the first smart dialogue platform built specifically for the insurance industry."
Marley chatbot can respond to customers immediately, answer simple questions about deductibles, photos and other documents, and update claims status in a timely manner. Among them, natural language processing allows Marley to communicate with customers in simple English; machine learning allows Marley to continue to improve his system by analyzing each conversation, learning how to respond to specific issues and improve specific insurance expertise.
Hi Marley has partnered with several insurance companies including British specialist insurance company Hiscox, Queensland Insurance North America and most recently Aon, insurance broker Aon, to support insurance company client engagement.
7
Insurwave: The world's first commercial maritime insurance blockchain platform
blockchain maritime insurance platform Insurwave was developed by EY and Guardtime. It is currently in commercial operation. Its customers include container ship operator Maersk, insurance brokerage firm Willis Towers Watson, reinsurer AXA XL, British insurance giant Amlin, etc. Ernst & Young said the goal of building an insurance platform in the shipping industry is to enable all parties in the shipping insurance system to use distributed accounting, thereby storing shipping information and automatically completing insurance transactions to improve the efficiency and transparency of the industry.
The platform supports fast claims settlement and is completed as soon as a few hours. And because the information on the platform can be updated in real time, the premium can be reached and settled in seconds. Shippers can use it to track assets and share this data with brokers and insurers, which can use it to track their own exposures to better match capital and accumulated risks. Insurwave can also digitize the war zone map and calculate premiums when the ship considers traversing the area.
8
Lemonade: Artificial intelligence accelerates the insurance process
Lemonade, this rapidly growing disruptive startup is called "technology company engaged in insurance business" . Lemonade uses artificial intelligence and chatbots to tailor insurance products for homeowners and renters, and uses behavioral economics and algorithms to accelerate almost every step of the insurance customer cycle.
CEO Daniel Schreiber said Lemonade was launched to change the way people think about insurance. He is not just talking about the company's faster digital attributes, he also wants to incorporate transparency and integrity into the company's core values. Schreiber said AI technology reduces time, hassle and costs, and its behavioral economics replaces fraud and conflict of interest.The company's rapid growth, cumulative financing of $480 million, support from well-known figures, and recent expansion to Europe have proven its value.
9
Manfre Insurance: Automotive VR training, saving time and money
Spain Manfre Insurance Company (Mapfre) has developed the CESVIMAP virtual reality (VR) project, simplifies the skills training for auto insurance claims handlers, and also strengthens claim management .
developers have developed a virtual reality experience that mimics the process of real-life loss estimating experts detecting and evaluating damaged vehicles. Through VR helmets, students can "immerse themselves in actual learning."
This means that through virtual replication of VR technology, companies do not need to buy hard-to-get auto parts or look for specific models to learn. This reduces costs and makes the potential risk process safer.
10
Markerstudy: Machine learning improves renewal rate
Markerstudy is an Internet management general agency, focusing on auto insurance products and supplementary services, and has established cooperation with more than 1,000 British brokers and agencies.
The company started using machine learning technology to support renewal service in 2018 and achieved strong results. Through machine learning, the company makes insurance more transparent and fully demonstrates how it ensures customers get fair deals while still setting competitive prices. It is reported that machine learning can find a cost-effective premium pricing point, allowing customers to be happy to renew their insurance without having to shop around.
With this technology, Markerstudy's renewal rate increased by 40% soon.
11
MIS: Big data reduces claims costs
McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS) is a leading information and intelligence collection, processing and guidance company, providing customers with customized and high-quality solutions. MIS launches the groundbreaking image intelligence claim service . Through the MIS portal, the insurance industry can remotely manage and adjust claims and quickly pay to policyholders in advance. Lloyd’s of London is the first multinational insurer to adopt and support this groundbreaking service.
CEO McKenzie said the company's technology "has reduced the cost of business interruption claims to 10% of the estimated costs of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria". He also gave another example: an agent once assessed a company with a risk of 38.5 million , but the analysis of the MIS system shows that the risk should be close to .9 million .
12
New Paradigm: Indexing solution to narrow the insurance gap
New Paradigm is a Florida-based developer of index insurance and risk transfer solutions. New Paradigm uses proprietary technology and parameter triggers to provide risk transfer solutions for insured policyholders, insurers and reinsurers. The company utilizes a network of monitoring stations to serve customers in three countries, seven U.S. autonomous states and one U.S. region.
index insurance can directly pay when a predefined event is triggered, rather than estimating the loss afterwards and then paying. With the frequent occurrence of natural disasters and the increase in severity, indexed risk transfer is becoming increasingly popular. Therefore, many types of risk that cannot be insured, or exclusion liability under traditional insurance, can obtain insurance opportunities, thus solving the problem of protection gap.
13
Shift Technology: Artificial intelligence fights insurance fraud
Shift Technology is a technology company that uses big data and artificial intelligence technology to provide insurance fraud claims detection services for insurance companies. Shift Technology is committed to solving the fraud risks on insurance companies' claims , integrating the solutions into the company's cutting-edge big data platform, and providing them in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. The company's testing is very extensive, ranging from minor speculative fraud to organized crime.
Currently, Shift Technology has more than 70 customers in more than 25 countries, including AXA, CNA Financial Company, Agricultural Credit Bank , Covéa Insurance Group, American Libo Mutual Insurance Group, Singapore Integrated Insurance Association and Hong Kong Insurance Association. The company claims that its AI tools have 2.5 times the capabilities of fraud detection and identification than the market average, and will regularly add new fraud scenarios.
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14
Unipol Group: Internet of Vehicles Save money for drivers
As cars become more and more digital, insurance companies have begun to use Internet of Vehicles technology to assess risks. The Internet of Vehicles can record and analyze the driver's driving methods, including driving time, location, speed and other information, thereby drawing an accurate risk map and enabling insurance companies to provide personalized insurance.
Italy's largest auto insurance company Unipol Group has long been in the field of Internet of Vehicles and provides services to millions of connected vehicles. accounts for the first share of the Italian Internet of Vehicles market. In 2017, its Dublin-based subsidiary UnipolRe confirmed that the company plans to expand its Internet of Vehicles business to Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
In addition, according to the analysis of "Consumer Intelligence" in September 2018, the Internet of Vehicles helped reduce the premiums of UK auto insurance by 9.1%.
15
When Fresh: "Big Data" supermarket
This insurance technology company uses big data to help property insurance companies provide instant and accurate quotations. only needs to provide at least one address information to obtain insurance quotations .
This company uses API to obtain and integrate data from more than 200 private and public data ends, and then export the analysis results to a specific address to clearly understand the risks.
This technology can provide very detailed assessments such as how many trees are nearby, the height of the tree, the soil type and settlement impact of the building, and the identification of mines that have not been marked in the area before.
