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How AI Enhances TPA Operations and Reduces Costs for Insurers

web-setup — Tue, 14 May 2024 09:25:04 +0000

In the world of insurance, Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) act as behind-the-scenes superheroes, handling crucial tasks for insurers and self-funded plans. The insurance industry, particularly Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) who handle a large volume of claims processing, is ripe for a revolution. This revolution is being driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), a powerful technology that is transforming how businesses operate.

By implementing AI solutions, TPAs can significantly improve their operational efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately deliver a better experience for insurers and policyholders alike. AI has the potential to streamline claim processing, improve fraud detection, enhance customer engagement, and optimize operational efficiency for insurers and TPAs alike. In the travel insurance industry, Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) play a crucial role in facilitating and managing insurance claims, policy administration, and customer service on behalf of insurers.

The efficient and seamless functioning of TPAs is essential for insurers to deliver prompt and reliable services to policyholders, especially during travel-related emergencies. To streamline the TPA operations in travel insurance AI plays a crucial role nowadays. By harnessing the power of AI, TPAs can significantly enhance their functioning and deliver superior services to both insurers and policyholders. This article will explore how AI is enhancing efficiency and reducing costs for insurers by streamlining TPA operations.

Understanding TPA in Travel Insurance Operations

Source: Third Party Administrator TPA Role in Health Insurance | Paytm Insurance

Third-party administrators (TPAs) play a crucial role in the travel insurance ecosystem, serving as intermediaries between the insurance company and the insured traveler. Their responsibilities include claims processing, policy administration, and customer service, ensuring a seamless experience for policyholders.

However, at the same time, the TPAS in traditional travel insurance may face some challenges. One of the biggest challenges is the manual process and paperwork. These manual and time-consuming processes, such as claim documentation and policy issuance, lead to inefficiencies and delays in service delivery. Data management and its analysis is another challenge that TPAs may face.

Managing and analyzing vast travel insurance data can be daunting for TPAs. Amidst these challenges, there is an urgent need for innovation in TPA travel insurance operations. Travel insurance TPAs face manual processes, fraud, and data silos. Technology like automation, data analytics, and digital platforms can streamline operations, improve data management, and ensure compliance. This tech revolution is crucial for efficient travel insurance.

AI Applications in TPA Operations

Source: 4 Ways Innovators are Using AI in Insurance Claims Processes (tethr.com)

AI technology has significantly impacted the operations of TPA travel insurance by revolutionizing various aspects of the industry.

Streamlining Claims Processing

AI has enabled the automation of claim intake and triage, expediting the initial processing of claims. Through the implementation of AI algorithms, fraud detection and prevention have been enhanced, leading to more secure and reliable operations. Furthermore, AI has facilitated and accelerated the speed of adjudication processes, reducing the time to settle claims.

Enhancing Customer Experience

The integration of AI has enabled personalized customer interactions, allowing for tailored services and support. Predictive analytics powered by AI have facilitated proactive customer support, thus anticipating and addressing customer needs before they arise. Additionally, chatbots and virtual assistants of AI have improved response times and provided round-the-clock assistance to customers.

Optimizing Underwriting and Risk Assessment

AI’s advanced data analytics capabilities have revolutionized risk profiling, providing insurance companies with more accurate risk assessments. Real-time insights generated by AI have enabled quicker and more informed decision-making while optimizing underwriting and risk assessment operations. Moreover, AI has significantly improved the accuracy and consistency of these processes.

Automation of Administrative Tasks

AI has automated various administrative tasks such as policy management and renewals, streamlining these processes and reducing errors. Furthermore, AI has facilitated the automation of documentation and reporting, leading to more efficient and organized record-keeping. Additionally, AI has been instrumental in compliance monitoring and reporting, ensuring all regulatory requirements are met.

Case Studies: Real-world Implementations of AI in TPA Operations

Gallagher Bassett

Gallagher Bassett is a renowned company delivering claims and risk management solutions to various insurance companies. They utilize AI and data science to enhance Third-Party Administrator (TPA) operations and reduce costs for insurers, particularly in the travel insurance claims space.

Their Luminos RMIS platform includes Gallagher Bassett’s claims expertise with AI-powered tools to deliver TPAs with valuable insights. It includes real-time data on program performance, risk assessments, and predictive analytics. These features empower TPAs to identify cost-saving opportunities, develop better strategies, and ultimately deliver superior claims outcomes for travel insurers.

CorVel Corporation

CorVel Corporation is a famous national risk management provider company providing claims and risk management solutions to many insurance companies. They have launched a new Claims Risk Score interface in CareMC Edge® CorVel’s integrated claim management platform. Their CareMC Edge® platform leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline Third-Party Administrator (TPA) operations and reduce costs for travel insurers.

This platform excels in a novel Claims Risk Score function that uses AI tools and predictive analytics to assess various claim data points. This score also identifies potentially problematic claims, enabling adjusters to take preventative measures and optimize claim outcomes. By pinpointing high-risk claims and proposing interventions, CareMC Edge® empowers TPAs to achieve greater claims management efficiency, ultimately reducing travel insurance costs for insurers.

Xceedance

Another digital claim TPA Platform from Xceedance utilizes AI throughout the claims process to improve accuracy and reduce costs for insurers, particularly in travel insurance. Marc Rothchild, Head of Claims, emphasizes the importance of high-quality data from the beginning. By integrating AI with data collection at the policy binding stage (e.g., location, coverage), they ensure a more accurate claims journey from the outset.

Furthermore, AI empowers self-service options for travel insurance claims, allowing insurers to submit information directly (photos, videos), which tends to be more accurate than third-party reports. Xceedance acknowledges that AI won’t handle the entire claims process yet. However, its role in improving data accuracy and streamlining specific steps is significant, leading to cost reductions for travel insurers.

Sedgwick

Sedgwick provides claims and risk management solutions to different insurance companies. They leverage AI to enhance communication and streamline the travel insurance claims process, reducing insurers’ costs. Their My Sedgwick platform offers a mobile-first experience with AI-powered features to meet the growing demand for self-service claim management (70% of claimants use mobile devices).

AI-powered chat capabilities address basic claim inquiries in real-time, freeing up adjusters for complex issues. It improves the claimant experience and reduces processing time and associated costs for insurers using Sedgwick’s TPA services.

Quantifying the Benefits: Statistics and Insights

When quantifying the benefits of AI adoption, statistics and insights reveal significant advantages across various aspects of operations.

Cost Reductions Achieved Through AI Adoption

AI adoption has led to a substantial reduction in processing time, allowing for quicker and more efficient handling of tasks and workflows. AI has helped lower administrative overheads and enabled resources to be allocated more strategically. The implementation of AI has resulted in a noticeable decrease in error rates and re-work, contributing to overall cost reductions and improved operational efficiency. Studies show that the use of AI in claim processing leads to a 30% decrease in cost and a 15% increase in customer satisfaction.

Efficiency Gains and Productivity Boost

Through AI, there has been a notable increase in the number of claims processed per day, leading to improved efficiency and faster customer service. AI adoption has facilitated significant time savings for underwriting processes, enabling faster decision-making and enhancing overall productivity. AI has brought about enhanced scalability and flexibility, allowing for smoother adaptation to changing business needs and market dynamics. AI helps travel insurance companies boost their productivity by up to 20% or more.

Improved Accuracy and Risk Management

AI has contributed to a reduction in claim denials and disputes, improving customer satisfaction and streamlining the claims management process. The use of AI in travel insurance may lead to a 25% reduction in claim denials. Through AI-powered analytics and detection mechanisms, fraudulent activities have been reduced. Further leading to better risk management and cost savings. AI has empowered organizations with enhanced decision-making capabilities, leveraging data-driven insights to make more accurate and informed business decisions.

Overcoming Challenges and Implementation Considerations

Source: (10) Challenges and Concerns Surrounding AI in Insurance | LinkedIn

To successfully implement AI solutions, organizations need to address several key considerations.

Addressing Data Privacy and Security Concerns

Data privacy and security are paramount when implementing AI systems in travel insurance. Organizations must ensure compliance with relevant data protection regulations and employ robust security measures to safeguard sensitive information. Implementing encryption, access controls, and regular security audits can help mitigate the risks associated with data privacy and security.

Integration with Existing Systems and Processes

Integrating AI solutions with existing systems and processes can be a complex task. Compatibility issues, data migration, and interoperability challenges need careful management to ensure a seamless integration. Organizations should consider leveraging APIs and middleware to facilitate integration and minimize disruptions to existing operations.

Training and Upskilling Workforce for AI Adoption

Successful implementation of AI technologies requires a skilled workforce. Organizations should invest in training programs to upskill their employees and ensure they have the necessary expertise to leverage AI tools effectively. This also involves providing training in data analysis, machine learning, and other relevant areas to enable employees to work alongside AI systems.

Regulatory Compliance and Ethical Considerations

Adhering to regulatory requirements and ethical considerations is vital for AI solutions. Organizations must stay abreast of evolving regulations about AI and ensure that their systems adhere to ethical standards. It also involves establishing clear guidelines for the ethical use of AI and implementing mechanisms for ongoing compliance monitoring.

Future Outlook: Evolution of AI in TPA Operations

Source: (10) Navigating the Future: The Transformative Impact of AI on Insurance | LinkedIn

The future outlook for AI in travel insurance third-party administrator (TPA) operations is promising, with significant advancements expected in the coming years. Advancements in machine learning and predictive analytics excel to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of TPA operations. AI algorithms will be able to analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends, leading to more precise risk assessment and streamlined claims processing. This, in turn, can result in improved customer experiences and cost savings for insurance providers.

Moreover, the potential impact of AI on the dynamics of the travel insurance industry is noteworthy. AI is poised to transform the insurance industry by enabling more personalized products, optimizing underwriting processes, and automating routine tasks. As AI becomes more integrated into TPA operations, it has the potential to reshape traditional business models and create new opportunities for growth and development.

Furthermore, the future presents opportunities for continuous improvement and innovation in the field of travel insurance TPA operations. AI can empower TPAs to continually refine their processes, identify new market segments, and develop innovative insurance products and services. Embracing AI technologies offers the potential for TPAs to stay ahead in the travel insurance curve and adapt to evolving customer needs and market dynamics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, AI has demonstrated its ability to streamline processes, improve accuracy, and enhance decision-making in the TPA industry. The integration of AI technologies has the potential to revolutionize the way TPAs operate, leading to increased efficiency and cost savings. The travel insurance industry is on the cusp of a revolution driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Emphasizing the transformative potential of AI in TPA operations in travel insurance is crucial, as it underlines the need for industry players to embrace these advancements to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving landscape of travel insurance.

TPAs must proactively embrace AI to harness its benefits and stay ahead in the competitive landscape. By doing so, you can position yourself for sustained success and continued relevance in the dynamic TPA travel insurance industry.

The post How AI Enhances TPA Operations and Reduces Costs for Insurers first appeared on Ancileo.

The post How AI Enhances TPA Operations and Reduces Costs for Insurers appeared first on Ancileo.

UI/UX Design & Mobile Optimisation in Travel Insurance Done Right

web-setup — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 01:45:17 +0000

With virtually every business selling in the digital world, optimal user experience has become a must-have rather than a nice-to-have.

For airlines selling travel insurance products, it has become imperative to offer a good user interface – user experience (UI/UX) design to capture attention, sell and succeed in a competitive marketplace.

In 2022, 75% of Australian and New Zealand airlines benchmarked changed their travel insurance (TI) UI. Compare this to the measly 7.9% of Asian airlines benchmarked, along with just 6.3% of those in the Middle East and Africa.

Why Good UI/UX Design Matters

A great UI and UX is a key component of a successful product. The right design interfacing between users and a website or app should look great, quickly deliver what the user needs, and be easy to use, seamless, and intuitive.

UI and UX are often used in the same context, but they are different:

UI refers to the look and feel of the product, and comprises interactive elements such as buttons, icons, color scheme, typography, and imagery.
UX is the user experience during the journey of landing on the website or app through to the end action. It includes the emotions stirred or provoked during the interaction with the product.

According to market research firm Forrester, great UI can increase conversion rates by 200%. Seamless UX, on the other hand, can improve it by 300% to 400%.

Roughly 70% of online customers have abandoned shopping carts because of poor UX, warned Baymard Institute. This means e-commerce businesses lose big by not prioritising their target customers’ UI/UX journey on the site or app.

Inbound marketing specialists at ImpactBND have found sobering statistics, too. Seventy-nine percent of people who don’t enjoy their website experience click the “Back” button and move on to another site. The problem is particularly common for mobile users, with 52% of online users with a poor mobile experience “less likely to engage with a company.”

The long and short of it: Good UI/UX helps brands land better outcomes in the long term, generating more leads and enhancing conversion rates, and in turn translating to increased revenues.

Tips to Improve UI/UX of Travel Insurance Products

For airlines, here are tips for UI/UX optimisation for TI in-path integration:

Think mobile first

Mobile optimisation is also critically important, as 9 out of 10 airlines have a bigger mobile traffic than desktop traffic. This means mobile commerce accounts for a high composition of air ticket sales.

Ryan Air

JetBlue Airways

Wizz Air

Optimise for screen size

Mobile design seeks to fit content on the small screen. This is why screen size affects all aspects of design, including navigation. If you’re designing for mobile first, prioritise elements from most to least important. It’s easier to add further elements as the screen size increases.

Make the ‘Buy Insurance’ tab stand out

Remove all barriers to finding, noticing, and creating an emotional response to the Buy tab. For instance, in the Include Travel Cover section, add a “Recommended” tag in a standout color plus the total pricing breakdown per day.

Keep it simple with a minimal design

Simplify tabs for a clear, direct customer journey. A minimal UI is not only straightforward but also helps improve speed. In the example above, a succinct summary of the insurance benefits comes in a checklist that commands visual attention on the right side.

Personalise!

Your bid for a simple, straightforward display should come with elements that drive home the message for your target audience, e.g., the solo traveller or the multigenerational family groups.

Execute this through the header, accompanying images and text – but don’t be limited to these in reaching out to specific traveller types.

Among airlines vying for market share in travel insurance today, UI/UX design proves to be as crucial as the product and price themselves as a key differentiator.

Thinking ahead and understanding the investment involved in UX design and its potential will go a long way in achieving long-term targets as well as establishing brand loyalty.

The post UI/UX Design & Mobile Optimisation in Travel Insurance Done Right first appeared on Ancileo.

The post UI/UX Design & Mobile Optimisation in Travel Insurance Done Right appeared first on Ancileo.

Mental Health Inclusivity Makes Cover-More Competitive in Travel Insurance

web-setup — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 01:44:46 +0000

In today’s world striving for diversity and inclusion, differentiating travel insurance (TI) can mean integrating a mental health benefit in the core offer. This is what Cover-More, a global TI and medical assistance provider headquartered in Sydney, Australia, did exactly in 2017.

In that year, Cover-More became one of the first providers in the country to remove the general exclusion for mental health conditions. Prior to said change, policy relating to mental health was usually worded this way:

The Why: Listening to the Customer, Changing Perceptions

Cover-More saw changing perceptions all around the world, prompting a review of its priorities in its travel insurance offerings.

“In Australia, public sentiment and stigma can change very quickly, and travel insurance providers must listen to their customers,” said Michael Storozhev, General Manager for Strategic Underwriting AUNZ and Head of Global Insurance Products and Underwriting at Cover-More.

Cover-More travel insurance policy wording extract

In 2017, Cover-More was among the first TI providers in Australia to remove the general exclusions for mental health. Dubbing them as “discriminatory” exclusions that were unfortunately rather standard in the local and global market, Cover-More put its strong industry advocacy to use to ensure TI products in the country followed suit.

In redesigning its TI product with mental illness benefit in mind, Cover-More strived for wider inclusivity for other medical conditions, such as for travellers with learning difficulties and ADHD.

It also aimed to tailor its products to customer needs, with some youth-centric solutions, such as Freely, incorporating autism in its standard coverage.

Its product design approach: treat mental health conditions just like any other health condition a customer may have. This was a far cry from the time when insurers required psychiatrists to document and diagnose any anxiety, depression or mental illness before approving claims.

“This customer experience was complicated, and in the last five years, we’ve seen the industry moving away from such requirements,” Storozhev added.

Differentiated Travel Insurance Today

Cover-More continues to be one of few Australian providers to include low-risk mental health conditions in standard coverage without the need to complete a medical screening.

As of 2019, there’s been a 600% increase in customers reaching out to confirm they had coverage for mental health conditions.

To date, the insurer consistently designs products covering anxiety and depression in Australia comprising 80% of travellers with mental health conditions, while simplifying the customer experience.

“There should be a recognition that such societal changes are not isolated to just mental health, and inclusivity is a key wider priority for Cover-More,” Storozhev said.

Going Beyond Policy Wording Changes

In walking its talk of mental health support, Cover-More goes beyond policy wording and integrates the support in the wider insurance proposition.

Complementary programs to support the insured’s mental health include the following:

Free trauma counselling to those who witnessed horrific events overseas, such as the Bastille Day attack in Nice, France, and the Nepal earthquakes in 2015. Trauma counselling, typically offered outside of TI policies, are provided to Cover-More customers by experienced internal psychologists.

Simplified policy purchase, where anxiety and depression are included as standard coverage, with no detailed medical assessment required.

Reduced planning and travel stress from COVID-19 uncertainty, where Cover-More and its in-house assistance provider World Travel Protection provide additional COVID-19 guidance to customers through a travel risk tool for planning their international travel.

The tool allows customers to view any up-to-date entry and quarantine requirements, currently COVID-19 rules for public spaces, as well as the COVID-19 policies of more than 75 major airlines to remove any unpleasant surprises when entering new destinations.

Since 2017, Cover-More’s product development continues to evolve, with the insurer recognizing that more can be done even with the removal of general exclusions as a strong first step.

The post Mental Health Inclusivity Makes Cover-More Competitive in Travel Insurance first appeared on Ancileo.

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Winning Deals: Tips for Travel Insurance RFPs and Partnerships

web-setup — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 01:44:18 +0000

As insurers and travel players move from a product to ecosystem play, fostering partnerships becomes a science of strategy. Insurers should show early on that they are the best provider possible with the right capabilities to serve diverse (as well as local) customers’ needs.

Airlines tend to invite the top four or five travel insurers they recognise as the best potential candidates for their business.

Industry veteran and Ancileo consultant Erick Morazin notes, however, that these insurers may have the capabilities but may not always understand the local needs of the airline’s origin country or in countries the airline is operating in. “It is important to remember a typical ‘retail’ airline insurance scheme needs a local insurer in all countries of residence of the passengers,” he said.

Volaris makes it a point to evaluate its partnership in several categories, such as price, solution times, technology, marketing efforts, and product conversion. “We then compare it with new partners’ offers to make a decision,” shared Veronica Nieto, Ancillary Product & Pricing Senior Manager at Volaris.

The Mexican airline looks at low-cost premium rates, technological tools for customer claims, and travel-related benefits for customers when seeking a travel insurance partner.

2 Types of Tendering Process

Airlines can consider the following types of tendering process:

Open Tendering – Here, any supplier can submit a tender. While it stimulates competition leading up to competitive pricing and gives new or emerging suppliers a chance, open tendering unwittingly includes tenders that are not suitable to the contract. It also entails more time to evaluate tenders.
Limited Tendering – It exclusively invites a few select suppliers and entails direct negotiation, where only one supplier is selected. On the upside, it is an efficient process and invited suppliers tend to have an established track record for the contract and its size. On the downside, there is bias present, excluding potentially viable suppliers.

Soraya Essalhi, Chief Operating Officer at Ancileo and formerly with Allianz Partners as a global transformation head, says that most airlines open limited tenders to avoid losing time with small competitors that cannot execute the request.

To increase their chances of participating in limited tendering, many insurers use requests for information (RFIs) and altogether avoid requests for proposals (RFPs), Essalhi added.

What Airlines Should Probe

In their RFP, on the other hand, airlines should pore over the following items:

Current provider’s past performance in the last three years
Technical capabilities per market
Insurance claims systems in place
Assistance provider and claims system in place
Interactive voice response system in place
Reporting capabilities
Resource availability, both local and central

Airlines should prepare an FAQ document, which consolidates answers relating to the RFP scope. Some details it includes are booking statistics, customer segmentation by demographic and current travel insurance purchase conversion rate by country.

Airlines, too, are better off validating early on that the insurer is able to support existing markets by having valid insurance licenses in individual markets. Essalhi cites some smaller markets may not be economically viable to deploy even with an insurer license, so it’s always difficult to get 100% coverage.

How Insurers Can Maximise Chances of Winning

Where the tender goes is interesting: it usually gets sent by the airline to the local insurance teams or their global travel insurance experts. Both local and global teams analyse the tender request and information from the airline.

To increase their chances of landing the contract, insurers should pay attention to the following critical factors:

Market
Region
Airline reservation system in place
Network of the company
Existing provider
Ability to challenge the incumbent on capabilities and/or financial proposition

To get things started, insurers usually initiate a kick-off call involving all parties, led by the business development unit. Internally, timelines are shared and the insurer team gets the next few days to clarify tender details. Once the process is complete, it typically takes a week to receive the results of the tender.

Much of what goes into the decision-making may be out of the insurer’s control, but one thing is important: the insurer team’s availability during the entire process.

For Nieto, a successful partnership between an airline and insurer boils down to a few key elements: good communication, clear priorities on both sides and teamwork to offer the best product and solutions possible.

The post Winning Deals: Tips for Travel Insurance RFPs and Partnerships first appeared on Ancileo.

The post Winning Deals: Tips for Travel Insurance RFPs and Partnerships appeared first on Ancileo.

Optimising In-Path Conversion Rates in Travel Insurance

web-setup — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 05:05:40 +0000

Amid a gradual industry-wide push to serve customers’ diverse needs and provide access to interconnected solutions, travel insurance is no longer largely offered as a separate, complementary, or mere add-on offer to a core product that’s already been purchased.

In the industry’s shift from siloed offerings to ecosystem solutions, in-path travel insurance – also known as embedded insurance or integrated path – offers the convenience and customer centricity that surpass those offered by white label or advertisement pop-up.

The State of In-Path Travel Insurance Among Airlines

In-path sales follow a clear growth path in 2022, as powered by embedded insurance partnerships for travel insurance along with a range of other driving factors.

Of 114 airlines benchmarked in 2022, 73.1% offered in-path travel insurance. This meant 37 more airlines integrated in-path sales this year from 2021 levels of 77 airlines.

Notably, 18 airlines maintained insurance partnership without an in-path offer, a decrease from 2021 levels of 32 airlines. An increase from 2021 levels (18 airlines) can also be seen in 49 airlines in 2022 opting for white label or dedicated sites for selling travel insurance, whether they have a separate in-path or not.

Asia and Europe have the highest number of airlines with in-path insurance.

The former had 9 new airlines adding in-path in 2022 (30 airlines in total) from the previous year, while the latter had 18 more airlines offer insurance in path from already high numbers in 2021 (28 or 77.8%) leading up to 2022 (46 or 92.0%).

5 Trends Powering In-Path Travel Insurance Among Airlines

Here are five things that contribute to the success of in-path travel insurance, where airlines and other travel players can incentivise “opting in” for insurance purchase.

1. Most travel insurance in-path found in Add-Ons and Payments pages

According to Olivier Michel, CEO and Founder of Ancileo: “To be consistent (or limited by their tech), airlines tend to add travel insurance in their ancillary add-on section, where it is mixed with numbers of other ancillary services.”

This, however, is a mistake: placing the travel insurance integration on the Payment page actually drives the highest conversion.

Most airlines, too, offer just 1 plan for in-path integration. While it makes sense not to confuse travellers with multiple offers, offering 2 plans with substantial benefits and pricing differences actually bodes well for conversion.
“For example, you could offer a comprehensive travel insurance (avg premium USD50) and simple cancellation product (avg premium USD15),” he noted.

2. Optimise pricing

Insurers take into account several different factors to determine pricing. These factors include trip cost, trip length, age, as well as destination.

Experts recommend the following pricing strategies:

Design the pricing strategy to the destination served by the airline, i.e., domestic versus international flights.
Assess pricing sensitivity based on several factors to offer an appropriately priced plan to every traveller.

For Michael Grossman, AVP, A&H – Travel Insurance at Starr, it couldn’t be simpler: Offer a simple, low-cost product so the price does not become a purchase deterrent.

“If the traveller does not opt in for the insurance in the purchase path, an email can be pushed out as a second opportunity for them to purchase the insurance. In both cases highlight the ability to cancel the policy with a full refund within a specific time frame,” Grossman said.

3. Build on your ecosystem via cross-selling

CEB Piso Protect is a new product that Philippine airline Cebu Pacific started offering in April 2022. It is available for purchase for both passengers and non-passengers through the following channels:

Flight ticket confirmation page for passengers
Clicking in from marketing push emails
Clicking social media post links
Going straight to the CEB website

Qantas Insurance also built a full suite of insurance ecosystem beyond selling travel insurance, incorporating health, life, car, and home insurance.

These offers are integrated with its Frequent Flyer program, allowing for offset of purchases using miles.

4. Drive real-time personalisation

Personalising based on individual travel needs continues to incentivise in-path purchase for customers. This means coverages that are customised based on demographics and travel patterns can enhance the embedded travel insurance offering.

This entails information exchange between airlines and insurers, including travel destinations, age, travel cost, advance purchase in days or months, as well as average number of people per transaction.

The end goal is to keep plans simple and easy to understand, and to eliminate unnecessary coverages.

This is hardly a one-off endeavor; continue A/B testing and revisit relevant data real-time to check the relevance of the insurance offering.

3. Frequently review travel insurance partnerships

Airlines and other travel players are well-placed to analyse a range of factors involved in the partnership, including price, project deployment timeline, technology (e.g., customer claims platform), marketing efforts, and the product’s conversion rates.

They should also conduct monthly review and reporting as well as tracking of customer feedback.

Bangkok Airways conducts monthly meetings with its travel insurance partners to bounce off ideas, such as what to offer seasonally and how to improve the in-path display.

For Volaris, it is important to stay attuned to market trends.

“We also evaluate the travel insurance benefits to make improvements in case it is needed, for example the pikes of the pandemic,” said Daniela Avila Del Abrego, Ancillary Product Management Leader. “We also seek to have a competitive price to generate a good profit, and value teamwork to offer the best product possible that works for both parties.”

The post Optimising In-Path Conversion Rates in Travel Insurance first appeared on Ancileo.

The post Optimising In-Path Conversion Rates in Travel Insurance appeared first on Ancileo.

5 Key Trends in Airline-Insurer Partnerships in 2022

web-setup — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 06:56:08 +0000

Airlines emerge as a key player in the travel rebound being seen around the world. With various segments including leisure (like family vacations and adventure seekers) and business as bright spots for the industry, there’s a huge opportunity for these intermediaries to initiate new offerings and partnerships in travel insurance.

As recovery looms large, there are subtle to significant shifts and trends emerging in airlines’ insurer partnerships that defy traditional distribution models and tap into digital means and capabilities via embedded insurance.

Trend #1: Opt-In Travel Insurance Integration

Due to regulations, the majority of travel insurance integration for airlines is on opt-in integration.

In opt-in integration, the customer needs to tick off the travel insurance option to purchase with their flight ticket, effectively “opting in” to buy the product. As such, optimising the product display becomes highly important to attract customers.

In contrast, opt-out integration auto-selects the travel insurance in the flight ticket purchase, and the customer has to opt out if they don’t want to purchase. While this naturally converts better, market regulations worldwide have been shifting more towards opt-in, such as Russia in 2021.

Trend #2: Most Travel Insurance In-Path Are Strategically Positioned On The Add-Ons and Payment Touchpoints

The in-path or in-booking path is an option integrated within the airline booking website – not white labels, not website ads, and not purchases redirected to another website. This option allows customers to buy their travel insurance the same time they confirm the purchase of their flight tickets.

Consistent with 2021 numbers, 2022 data shows that most travel insurance in-path are placed on the Add-Ons and Payments page.

Whether for consistency or as a limitation of their technology, airlines tend to add travel insurance in their Add-Ons section, where it is mixed in with other ancillary services. This is a less-than-optimal position, as placing the travel insurance integration on the Payment page actually drives the highest conversion.

Trend #3: Frequent Review, Clear Communication Pave Path to Success

Optimising their TI offerings means airlines should remain on the lookout for market trends and developments. Factors to analyse include the following:

Price
Relationship with travel insurer
Project deployment timeline
Technology, e.g., customer claims platforms
Marketing efforts
Customer feedback
And more

It is crucial for airlines and insurers to evaluate the travel insurance benefits to make improvements in case it is needed, such as the pikes of the pandemic. Competitive pricing – generating a good profit – as well as teamwork make it possible for both parties to offer the best product possible.

To navigate challenges, good communication and clear prioritisation for both airlines and insurers are both key. Crucial factors to discuss include low-cost premium rates, technological tools for customer claims, insurer branding and API capabilities of the insurer, to name a few.

Trend #4: Cross-Sell to Products Beyond Travel

Airlines potentially build on their insurance ecosystem by cross-selling to products beyond travel.

Qantas Insurance has built a full suite of an insurance ecosystem beyond selling TI through expanding into health, life, car, and home insurance. Integration with its Frequent Flyer program also allows for offset of purchases using miles.

Cebu Pacific in the Philippines offers personal accident insurance coverage for hospitalisation and surgery due to accidents, with affordable premium payments from as low as US$0.02 a day.

Mental health benefits also add to differentiation, with wider inclusivity for related conditions such as for travelers with learning difficulties and ADHD.

Trend #5: Personalisation and Mobile UI/UX Optimisation Are Key

Personalisation is a prevailing theme in airlines’ travel insurance offerings. Airlines are moving more towards personalising travel insurance benefits for varying segments, such as families, solo or adventure seekers, and business travellers.

UI/UX optimisation, including mobile integration, remains critically important now more than ever.

Personalising displays on different segments, for example, greatly assists in conversion. The trick is to keep it simple with a minimal design, removing visual “noise” that serve as barriers to purchase.

Of airlines’ mobile traffic composition, 46.8% forms more than half of the total web traffic volume. This means that mobile commerce accounts for a high composition of air ticket sales.

Mobile optimisation of TI in-path integration can involve the following:

Simplified tabs for customer journey
Use of minimal UI design for speed
Optimising for different operating systems and screen resolutions
More simple yet meaningful tweaks to mobile

The post 5 Key Trends in Airline-Insurer Partnerships in 2022 first appeared on Ancileo.

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Ancileo Releases ‘2022 Global Airlines Travel Insurance Benchmark’ Amid Post-Pandemic Travel Surge

web-setup — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 01:33:13 +0000

Significant growth among airlines with in-path travel insurance, the highest number of partnerships in Asia and Europe, and the continuing dominance of global insurance giants surfaced in the comprehensive study comprising 156 airlines globally

November 2022, Singapore – More airlines globally offer embedded travel insurance and maintain insurer partnerships in 2022 amid the post-pandemic recovery of the sector, while global insurers such as Allianz Partners, Chubb, AIG and AXA Partners remain dominant in the travel insurance market.

These are some key findings from “2022 Global Airlines Travel Insurance Benchmark,” a report from Ancileo, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform powering the distribution of embedded travel insurance for highly recognized travel brands such as Etihad Airways, Scoot, One Vasco, and some 15 other partners that include a top 3 Chinese online travel agency and a top 5 global hospitality group.

Published for the second year in a row, the 160+ page report covers 156 airlines’ travel insurance partnerships and trends in global travel insurers’ dominance in regions across the world. It also features more than 80 in-path travel insurance screenshots this year.

The new report provides the following findings:

In-path travel insurance: Also known as embedded insurance or integrated path, in-path travel insurance grew in 2022, as powered by partnerships along with a range of other factors. In 2022, a majority (73.1%) of 156 airlines surveyed offered travel insurance in-path, compared to 55.8% of 138 airlines surveyed in 2021.
Top regions with in-path: Europe and Asia logged the highest percentage of airlines with in-path integration at 92.0% and 75.0% respectively.
Opt-in integration: Due to regulations, the majority of travel insurance integration for airlines was also opt-in, where the insurance needs to be selected by the customer in order to be purchased with the flight ticket. This is in contrast to opt-out, where travel insurance is automatically selected during purchase. While the latter naturally creates higher conversion, opt-out markets are only a select few and regulations in markets such as Russia shifted the market towards opt-in in 2021.
Highest conversion in-path: Most in-path travel insurance was placed on the Add-Ons and Payments page, where the latter is driving the highest conversion. Personalising key messages, with visuals and images, play a key role in conversion.
Insurers’ reach via airline partnerships: In their global reach based on airline website traffic, Allianz dominated this year with its 29 airline partnership deals, followed by Chubb with 22 airline deals, AIG with 15 airline deals, and AXA with 11 airline deals.

Olivier Michel, Ancileo CEO and Founder, said: “Intermediaries represent 73.5% of travel insurance distribution globally. Airlines have been a key distributor way before the hype around embedded insurance, yet there is still a lot of untapped potential linked to personalisation, product innovation and insurance ecosystem building.”

“We first released the airlines travel insurance benchmark in 2021 to help inform insurers and travel players of trends and best practices that will enable them to better reach and convert travellers. We received positive responses and as such refreshed the benchmark this year, with improved and refined data.”

Ancileo supports insurers with their travel insurance distribution and claims through its expertise, technology and global relationship network that helps grow its partners’ portfolio. It delivers customized digital solutions that complement existing insurer legacy systems, empowering them to partner with any distribution ecosystem and tap into entirely new growth opportunities.

Access the report here.

About Ancileo
Ancileo is a software as a service platform for the insurance ecosystem, offering a comprehensive range of technology solutions to enable Travel Insurance partnerships between insurers and their distribution partners. Live in 19 countries with 15 partners across the travel ecosystem, Ancileo offers core capabilities including API solution, white label, agent portal management, claims automation, policy management and localized payment solutions for insurance premium collection. Helping insurers partner with any digital travel platform and ecosystem and industry players navigate industry trends and movements, Ancileo has also produced the annual Travel Outlook and World Travel Insurance Benchmark for Airlines reports since 2021. For more information, visit www.ancileo.com.

Ancileo Communications Group
contact@ancileo.com | www.ancileo.com

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Maximizing Embedded Insurance Partnerships for Travel Insurance

web-setup — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 10:31:14 +0000

From Product to Ecosystem Strategy: Where Embedded Insurance Fits In

Traditionally, insurance has been regarded as a separate, and complementary or add-on purchase to a core product or experience that was already purchased. It’s been perceived as being sold “in your face.” As the industry sees a shift from siloed products to ecosystem, operating on the traditional distribution model alone via insurers, MGAs, reinsurers and channels will no longer suffice.

An ecosystem is customer-centric (experience-focused), not industry-centric (product-focused). It recognises that consumers have a variety of needs and enables access to an interconnected set of services.
Insurance is protection bought as a native feature. It’s now incorporated as a “risk assessment, management and mitigation aspects of these ecosystem domains.”
NOT an advertisement pop-up or a whitelabel, embedded insurance offers convenience and relevance by meeting customers at where they prefer to be at and the digital aspects of this enable customization to their diverse needs and profiles (READ MORE: Ancileo Blog – The Journey to Data-Driven Insurance)

In this article, we will look at embedded insurance partnerships for travel insurance in the regard of key driving factors to succeed in in-path sales as well as partnership strategies for insurers and other travel players.

Key Driving Factors for Travel Players to Succeed in In-Path Sales

In one of our previous posts, we looked at the key factors driving customers to buy from travel players via in-path means (See section: How likely are Potential Customers to Purchase Insurance via In-Path Means?).

What about what travel players themselves can do to incentivise their customers to “opt-in” for insurance purchase? In this section, we group some of these trends we have discerned from real-life industry case studies:

1. Bitesize Insurance Benefits To Push Other Ancillaries Uptake

AirAsia’s Premium Upgrade includes baggage delay and 1h on-time guarantee

Incorporate the provision of some sort of protection or insurance as one of the benefits to incentivise your customers to opt for an upgrade. When it’s already part of the package of benefits provided in an upgrade option, it can be relatively easy for you to implement, aka no additional technology needed. It’s as easy to add greater value to your existing product or service, and reinforce your brand promises to the customers.

2. Real-Time Personalisation

EasyJet Official Website Flight Search Simulation

“Personalization to Individual Travel Needs” consistently shows up in our research across 12 markets to be one of the top factors incentivising in-path purchase for customers. That being said, coverages that are personalized according to consumer demographics and travel patterns can help you to optimize your embedded travel insurance offering.

Of course this isn’t just a one-time implementation. The options presented have to be relevant real-time as they are being offered on your platform, and continuous A/B tests enable you to maintain that relevance of the offerings.

3. Syncing Up Platforms for Greater Value

Accenture Insurance – Insurance telematics: A game-changing opportunity

Telematics is one of the emerging frontiers as we talk about digitalization in the insurance industry. Across automotive, health and travel insurance products especially, a scalable, modular, end-to-end telematics solution can help to cut cost, improve risk selection, and increase client loyalty.

Aside from risk management, an app that integrates both the telematics platform and insurer portal can help users to streamline the claims management process. As the solution provider, the analytical insights enable you to refine your product design, and make them more relevant for the users.

Tips for Partnership Strategies from Global Insurers & Travel Players

We want to look at partnerships beyond the insurance purchase, as what Gabi Kool, Chief Commercial Officer of leading e-commerce platform for loyalty programmes, Loylogic, calls “a “deeper partnership strategy to engage with customers on an ongoing basis.”

Keep in mind that the customer’s needs are diverse and the insurer tends to be involved in multiple portfolios beyond the travel insurance product. For travel players, the potential to raise the value of your offering is limitless and there is no rule in the book that you have to stick within your field. For example: For airlines, you can increase the utility of airline miles by signing up more partners, whether they are airline or non-airline, to make your miles more valuable in the customers’ mind and to grow your loyalty ecosystem.

Secondly, many of the partnerships tend to revolve around technology. New tech providers enter the industry all the time, and keeping up with the market enables you to be at the front of the line when it comes to leveraging the potential of emerging innovations for your business.

Lastly, it is about making the effort to hold onto that thread, aka having conversation on an ongoing, regular basis, with your partnering businesses. This is such that there is an avenue for both of you to align this partnership to streamline the experience for end users.

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Unlocking the Insurance Distribution Marketplace via Partnerships

web-setup — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 13:02:58 +0000

Where emerging industries and businesses become part of shared economies, we see an increasing shift from competition to collaboration in the strategies adopted by businesses to adapt and grow their revenue sources.

For example, to stay relevant in the insurance marketplace, it will no longer suffice for insurers to only work on innovating the product, aka tweaking the policy terms and developing new policies; but to look beyond their products to tap on and/or exchange expertise with other partners to reach out to their target markets and improve service delivery for customers.

Partnerships between travel players and insurance are mutually-beneficial – basically two sides of the same coin.

For the insurer, partnership increases your access to a market segment that may be difficult to tap on without a partner who is known for its reputation in the market and knowledge of the potential customers that they can bring to you.
For the travel player, partnership allows you to add value to your existing product offerings. Complementing these with an insurance offering improves the functioning of your product by offering stability for your customers.

Where does the “partnerships” model stand with travel players and global insurers? How likely are potential customers to purchase insurance via in-path means? What are the key motivational factors for them to get insurance via travel players? Read more to find out.

Where does the “Partnerships” Model stand in the Travel Ecosystem?

Grace Li, VP, Team Lead Innovation at Swiss Re, pointed out that one of the consumer trends that is not only limited to the travel industry is the increased use of digital touchpoints for insurance purchases. What this means for partnerships is that most of them would center around new technology and innovation.

Multiple digital touchpoints across the customer’s purchasing journey
(Source: Ancileo’s 2021 World Travel Insurance Benchmark For Airlines)

Insurers offer their risk management expertise to their partners, while distributors hold valuable data assets of their potential customers. Hence, technological innovation is targeted at digesting these data into greater personalization of policy plans, which can translate to more affordable and attractive pricing schemes, as well as a convenient, seamless purchasing journey for your customers.

Within the travel industry, Airlines and OTAs are rated as the top travel players to purchase travel insurance (TI) apart from insurers.

Global Travellers Openness to Buying TI from Travel Players
(Source: Ancileo’s Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022)

Looking at Airlines, slightly over half (54% of the airlines we surveyed) offer embedded insurance in-path.

Stop! Before we move on, let us clarify the difference between partnerships vs. embedded insurance partnerships via in-path or in-booking path. Not white labels, not website advertisements, and not redirecting purchases to another website… In-path purchase is an option integrated within the airline booking website that allows customers to buy their TIs as soon as they have confirmed the purchase of their flight tickets.

Interestingly for the airlines with more than 1 million monthly visitors, about 94.1% of them have some form of insurance partnerships with a majority of 63.1% of that percentage having insurance embedded in their booking paths.

What’s being done by Insurers and Travel Players to Boost Conversion Rates for In-Path Travel Insurance?

Bucking Up Protection Against COVID

As a result of COVID-19 among other unexpected situations beyond our control, many Airlines are now providing that additional option for potential customers to purchase TI while they are making their travel bookings enabling them to maximize their financial protection in the cases of flight cancellations due to change in border restrictions and last-minute circumstances preventing travel.

“As an outcome of our collaboration with our insurer partner, we implemented the flexibility for our passengers to change or maintain the insurance coverage period followed by their flight.”

– Chulin Kocharoen, VP Sales and Acting VP Marketing, Bangkok Airways

“We intend to launch Travel Insurance with our travel insurance partner in early Q1 2022 in the Indian market and then by Q2 in the global market, based on the current travel requirements and the safety of all travellers.”
– Prateek Gautam, Global Growth, Strategic Alliances & Partnerships, Vistara

Not a One-Time Thing!

Melisa Irwan, Business Manager Ancillaries of Malindo Air, puts forward that partnerships aren’t just a one-time affair of a ribbon-cutting ceremony and leaving it to the tech team to embed the insurance offering on the Airline’s website.

Relevance of the product offering is key to optimizing your customer experience (CX). The product pricing and benefits have to be regularly reviewed between the insurer and the Airline to maintain the relevance of the plans to meet the needs of the consumers in the everchanging travel landscape.

On the marketing end, it also requires syncing up between the insurer and Airline to refine the marketing message to suit the current climate. A joint campaign can be considered to create awareness and drive sales to optimize the benefits of the partnership for both parties.

Keeping in Mind the Post-Purchase Journey

Majority of the consumers still prefer to purchase their insurance via the insurer. However, that doesn’t omit all other opportunities for cross-selling between the insurer and other distribution partners.

Insurers direct channel still preferred but open to purchase from travel players
(Source: Ancileo’s Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022)

This being said, the technology and innovation from the insurer’s end is key to enabling cross-selling to work on both ends, and to provide a seamless experience for your customers in the post-purchase stage.

For AXA, they have developed a digital wallet which enables communication with customers post-purchase, and this capability can be leveraged by partners and by AXA to provide relevant information about their holiday, their travel insurance, and to sell additional partner ancillaries or offer incentives on the next insurance purchase.

To optimize the CX on the app, AXA is also working closely with its partners to launch a new standard wording, product and pricing, enabling greater operational efficiency and consistency, reducing time to market for their partners, and cutting their cost of delivery.

How likely are Potential Customers to Purchase Insurance via In-Path Means?

Aforementioned that majority of the consumers still prefer to buy from insurers directly, this is likely as a result of the consumer trust that insurers have benefited from. That said, how can insurers go about fully monetizing this appeal that they have? The importance of digital capabilities and services of insurers is elevated for them to continue to retain existing and draw in potential customers.

Global travellers that prefer to purchase directly from insurers
(Source: Ancileo’s Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022)

Global travelers willingness to purchase embedded (in-path) travel insurance

(Source: Ancileo’s Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022)

On the other hand, when potential customers are proposed with the option to get TI on the distributor platforms, what are the motivational factors for them to opt-in on TI purchase? Considering that more than 80% (81.1% of the airlines surveyed) of the airlines have an opt-in for TI purchase, how likely are these customers to check the box to top-up TI on top of their flight bookings?

Three consistent factors were identified across the travelers from the 12 markets we’d surveyed:

Price: Discounted plan, low premiums
Convenience: One-click purchase
Personalization to Individual Travel Needs

On the flipside, we would also want to address the factors that prevent consumers from wanting to purchase TI via the distributors and what this means for next steps for partnerships. Two factors stood out:

Transparency and information of policy plans and pricing
Ability for consumers compare policy plans across insurers

Generally, consumers still perceive insurance purchases having a consequential impact and that convenience may be a double-edged sword as a one-click purchase may also be seen as a “too good to be true” deal. Most of them who are unlikely to opt-in for TI purchase are still skeptical, and this is exacerbated by the rise in online scams and frauds on digital platforms. They may still prefer to spend that extra effort and time to compare policy plans and read through the terms on their end.

Is the ball now thrown back to the distributors to enable that option and/or to discern which service provider to partner with? For insurers, consumers often find policy terms “dense and unreadable”, and there is certainly much more to be done with the presentation of policy terms and conditions by simplifying the wordings to improve the readability; as well as providing the user experience (UX) on their platforms.

Market Research by Ancileo

The insights gathered in this article were based upon two research decks produced by Ancileo:

1. 2021 World Travel Insurance Benchmark For Airlines

A market research done on 140 Airlines, for Airlines. You can find detailed information ranging from their global monthly website traffic, overview of their GDS and travel insurance providers to real-life demonstrations of TI integrated in the booking path.

If you are from the airline industry, contact us here to get free, full access to the full research deck.

2. 2022 Travel Insurance Whitepaper: Endemic Market Research Outlook

2022 Travel Insurance Outlook is a 180+ pages report which encompasses insights into how consumer sentiments towards TI have changed in the endemic, key features of TI during this period, and what this means for distributors and insurers in 2022.

Consumer market research was done with 4,800 participants from 12 markets (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Australia); and in-depth interviews were done with industry experts coming from Airlines, OTAs and travel solution providers.

Download the Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022 for FREE

The post Unlocking the Insurance Distribution Marketplace via Partnerships first appeared on Ancileo.

The post Unlocking the Insurance Distribution Marketplace via Partnerships appeared first on Ancileo.

Global Insurers Insights on Travel Behavior Trends in 2022

web-setup — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 05:12:27 +0000

“It’s no secret that air travel changed this year in ways we have never seen before, but people are still flying, and they will continue to fly.”

Chuck Thackston, Managing Director of Data Science and Research, Airlines Reporting Corporation – leading business solutions provider for air travel intelligence and commerce in the travel industry.

As travel is here to stay and we are still in COVID times, consumers would want to reduce as much uncertainty and as many risks as possible to optimize their travel experience by leveraging upon flexibility in travel bookings and insurance to recoup as much losses and expenses if the unexpected happens.

We’d recently published the 2022 Travel Insurance Outlook Whitepaper – highlighting insights from consumer questionnaires done with travelers and interviews conducted with executives coming from insurers, airlines, OTAs and other travel solution providers to understand sentiments towards the travel insurance market in the new normal.

A Generali Global Assistance Holiday/2021 Travel Sentiment Survey showed that about 58% of Americans are more likely to buy travel insurance now compared to their willingness to buy it pre-COVID. Previously, the standard travel insurance product did not cover the pandemic, but we are seeing more and more variants of what we thought as only one type of travel insurance springing up as a result of COVID-19.

The article delves into global insurer perspectives on how the travel insurance product is evolving with the pandemic, and travel insurance distribution strategy for the remaining travel players.

1. Move towards domestic and localized travel within the EU

The last two years saw an inevitable move towards domestic and localized travel within the EU, especially with the lockdown and constantly-changing travel restrictions. Moving forward in 2022, we are starting to see more stability and certainty in the travel regulations as the peak of COVID-19 cases subsides, as well as greater preparedness by governments and travelers themselves to manage the outbreaks.

That said, more are likely to travel internationally. Within the EU, on average more than half (49% in France, 52% in Italy; 74% in the UK) of those we surveyed would get travel insurance for their international vacation in 2022. France stood out in the EU research we’d done for one reason that the demand for domestic trips is higher in this market compared to pre-COVID levels, with increasing travel destinations to campsites which is unique to the region.

Whereas for local and regional travels, travelers may still accept not getting any travel insurance before embarking on their travels. Within the UK, 47% of Gen Z responders aged 18-24 indicated willingness to travel within the region or domestically without purchasing travel insurance.

2. Pricing and COVID-19 coverage: Influential factors when it comes to travel insurance purchase

Across the markets, we’d noticed that competitive pricing goes hand in hand with personalization. Insurers are working to ensure that their products are tailored more to the customer’s personal and travel profiles, as well as offering diverse products to tap on new markets. Also, as travel requirements vary from country to country (and region to region), we will be seeing more dynamic pricing and packages for customers.

Collinson posits that net rating in the coming months will be a challenge with changing travel patterns and the lack of reliable sales or claims data from the last two years. Pandemic coverage is here to stay beyond this period, and the challenge for insurers is to refine the COVID coverage for travel insurance from time to time. Henceforth, the willingness and the buy-in of reinsurance markets to support insurers also becomes key.

As we speak of data, technology implementation is at the heart of effectively predicting what products are relevant for every given customer. Rather than only tapping on the platforms of their Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) counterparts, more insurers are keeping up with the tech game on their own websites. For instance, AXA Italy will be launching its Customer Portal this year which will be a stand-alone or partner-integrated space where customers can access all digital tools, download documents, access travel information, arrange a tele or video consultation and submit and track the progress of claims.

3. Customer value simplicity and transparency in the offering

It’s enough of a chore for your customers to evaluate a travel insurance policy based on the terms and conditions. Don’t make the purchase and post-purchase process anymore tedious for them!

Talk to your partners and gather more brains together to look at how to improve your overall customer experience (CX). How to best integrate the travel insurance purchase journey seamlessly within their ecosystems? On your end of the deal, how can insurers also leverage your own platforms to offer customers with your partner’s offerings?

Swiss re, for example, has a scalable, easy-to-use platform to build and manage travel insurance covers. Their platform enables real-time adjustment of triggers and payouts, giving their customers all the flexibility and transparency they need to boost performance and steer portfolios.

Swiss Re: Flight delays – get compensation for the price of a coffee

Also keep in mind not to sacrifice security for simplicity. It’s not necessarily a give-and-take situation. With the example of Swiss re, flight delays are verified by a trusted third party, and claims payments are automatically made after the delays have been confirmed. Customers save the hassle to claim losses and you keep your customers safe through a third-party verification.

4. Industry collaboration to ensure a convenient and seamless purchase journey for customers

Collaboration brings the best talent, tools and technology together. As it’s been mentioned, collaborating with airlines, travel agencies and other travel players would enable insurers to provide a convenient and seamless insurance purchase journey, and deliver greater value beyond a travel insurance purchase to customers and business partners.

With a particular focus on insurer-airline partnerships, Bangkok Airways has put forward that as an outcome of their collaboration with their insurer partner, it has enabled them to implement flexibility for their customers to change or maintain the insurance coverage period following their flight without incurring additional fees.

5. Leveraging on other reward programmes for insurance purchase

The potential to create more value for your customers is endless with the partnerships. For insurers, this means thinking out of the box, aka beyond the nuts and bolts of the policy terms, to explore ways to leverage on the loyalty and reward programmes of your partners.

Consider miles, elite status benefits and credit card benefits as potential currencies to make it extra attractive for their customers to purchase insurance with you. Airline members also have a strong affinity to their miles, and that can be tapped upon in terms of rewarding your customers with miles when they get their policies with you.

Of course this isn’t limited to only travel insurances. A customer’s needs are all-encompassing, so that means the insurer can cross-sell different types of insurance on their partner’s platform. That being said, this has implications on collaboration between internal departments and stakeholders to better synergise their offering for the customer.

Ancileo’s 2022 Travel Insurance Whitepaper

Last December 2021, Ancileo sent out a survey questionnaire to 4,800 participants from 12 markets (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Australia) to understand how consumer sentiments towards travel insurance have changed in the endemic.

We also interviewed executives coming from Airlines, OTAs and travel solution providers to find out the key features of travel insurance during this period and what this means for insurance distributors and insurers in 2022.

The 2022 Travel Insurance Outlook is a 180+ pages report, encompassing the following sections:

Tangible actionable insights (4,800 travelers surveyed)
Country specific dataset (12 markets)
Travel players strategies (e.g. Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Kiwi…)
Download the Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022 for FREE

Download the Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022 for FREE

The post Global Insurers Insights on Travel Behavior Trends in 2022 first appeared on Ancileo.

The post Global Insurers Insights on Travel Behavior Trends in 2022 appeared first on Ancileo.

Travel Expert Insights on Consumer Behavior & Insurance Trends

web-setup — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 11:20:02 +0000

Tourism players have been on the edge since the travel sector has been stalled by the endemic. How are they spurring innovation, in the regard of technology solutions and revenue models, to lift tourism out of COVID-19 and beyond?

Ancileo recently published the 2022 Travel Insurance Whitepaper – a global study done on 4,800 travel consumers and in-depth interviews with travel experts to understand sentiments towards the travel insurance market in the new normal.

The article summarizes 5 key insights into travel behavior and insurance trends gathered from interviews with industry experts including insurers, airlines, online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel solution providers.

Download the Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022 for FREE

1. Increased use of digital touchpoints for insurance purchases

Convenience repeatedly comes up as the No. 1 priority in the consumer decision-making process when it comes to travel insurance purchase. Alongside heightened risk and safety awareness due to the pandemic, airlines are improving the way ancillary products are offered across digital touch points.

Whether it’s part of the flight booking or during the post-booking phase, how the customer experiences every stage of the buying journey can make or break a purchase. That being said, you want to make it as convenient as possible for them to be able to tailor their journey at a click of their mouse, and even better when it’s on any device (URLs or Apps), anywhere they are at.

2. Customer-centricity as key to product development

Both insurers and other travel players have been pumping in efforts and funding to improve the features on their digital platforms, as well as their respective product offerings, to cater to the changing needs of travel insurance customers.

Swiss Re’s scalable, easy-to-use platform to build and manage travel insurance covers. The app enables real-time adjustment of triggers and payouts.

(Source: Survey statistic from 2022 Travel Insurance Whitepaper, Ancileo, 2022)

Swiss Re, for example, found that combining data, underwriting expertise and global insights, together with their partners’ capabilities, platforms, and customer knowledge, has enabled them to accelerate idea validation and product prototyping. This has allowed them to avail their offerings in the market much earlier and faster than the rest, thereby shortening the overall product development cycle.

Think of customer-centricity beyond the lens of Apps and Tech. Our customers have dynamic needs, beyond what they want to only buy from us. That said, Japan-based insurance provider, MSIG, believes that capitalizing upon innovative reward programmes such as the usage of air miles for purchase of insurance policies to enhance their customer experience.

In the Singapore market, regardless of income levels, travelers are influenced by price discount on travel insurance plan

(Source: Survey statistic from 2022 Travel Insurance Whitepaper – Singapore Analysis, Ancileo, 2022)

3. Offering flexibility in purchases to increase travel confidence

Uncertainties are at all-time high in times like these. Anytime there is a spike in the number of cases or an emergence of another variant, travel plans may be delayed or canceled. We have noticed that airlines cope with this by specifying a period for customers until when airlines allow and facilitate free changes to their bookings.

Of course this is complemented with airlines providing customers the most updated information that they make as prominent and accessible as possible about the travel procedures and country-specific requirements on travelers (e.g. COVID hub on Etihad’s website).

Typical travel journey during COVID-19 times
(Source: Travelling Out of Singapore during the Pandemic? Here’s a Guide to VTLs and COVID-19 Swab Tests, Homage)

For the customer, paperwork and waiting time tend to be the most painful parts during COVID-19 times. Supersede their expectations some more by making it as easy as possible for your customers to send in their relevant documentation prior to arriving at the airport. Once they have been verified to fly, they can arrive at the airport confident that they have fulfilled all the requirements necessary for their trip

4. Affordability and personalization as key to conversion

Turning COVID-19 from a crisis to an opportunity, there is no better time for travel insurance growth than today (See: A Break in COVID-19 Clouds: Travelling Enabled by Insurance). The need for travel insurance has been mandated by circumstances and even by regulators as one of the travel requirements.

Marketing via hero banners and championing valuable and affordable travel insurance offerings, Bangkok Airways hope to use this pandemic as an opportunity to educate passengers and promote travel insurance.

Czech Republic-based OTA, Kiwi.com, posits that personalization goes hand in hand with competitive and dynamic pricing schemes. Technology implementation enables more clarity on what each product addresses, thereby effectively predicting what products are relevant for every customer profile.

5. Partnerships to streamline experience for the end user

Mark Ross-Smith, CEO and Co-Founder of StatusMatch.com, says “Travelers hold a greater affinity to their miles balances than they ever will for an insurance policy.” Therefore, the challenge for insurance partners is to explore ways to leverage on airline loyalty programmes, specifically looking at translating frequent flyer currency – miles, elite status benefits and co-brand credit card benefits – into the value of travel insurance plans to lock in customer purchase behavior.

Also, value creation for the customer is at the heart of partnerships. For airlines, take your focus off partnering only in the regard of travel insurance purchase… The partnership potential of loyalty currency is endless! Capitalize on your strengths, and sell this currency to other partners.

In the area of airline-insurer partnerships in health and wellness, we want to cite a case study by Switzerland-based loyalty solutions provider, Loylogic, who has a wealth of experience working with the world’s best airlines. Health and wellness apps have been a big thing in the insurance industry for sometime now. Upon the successful purchase of say travel insurance, the customer can be directed to a wellbeing app by the insurer. While acknowledging that it was the airline who helped to acquire this new customer in the first place, prizes and offers in the health app could be related to the airline. For example, winning 100.000 airline miles, receiving 50% discount coupons on certain flight destinations, winning free flights, etc.

Ancileo’s 2022 Travel Insurance Whitepaper

The 2022 Travel Insurance Outlook is a 180+ pages report, encompassing the following sections:

Tangible actionable insights (4,800 travelers surveyed)
Country specific dataset (12 markets)
Travel players strategies (e.g. Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Kiwi…)

Download the Global Travel Insurance Market Research 2022 for FREE

The post Travel Expert Insights on Consumer Behavior & Insurance Trends first appeared on Ancileo.

The post Travel Expert Insights on Consumer Behavior & Insurance Trends appeared first on Ancileo.

A Look at 5 Big Tech Partnerships in Insurance

web-setup — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 06:45:27 +0000

Big Tech has been making major moves into insurance over the last half-decade, and signs suggest that their interest in the space will only surge in the coming years.

Many investments and partnerships made by Big Tech in insurance and insurtech companies have been into digital health initiatives.

Google, whose venture capital arm ramped up healthcare investing nearly threefold between 2013 to 2017, counts health insurance startup Oscar Health and US health-tech firm Collective health among its investments.

That is set to change however, as recent partnerships have seen these tech titans venture into other insurance types, such as auto, life, and property and casualty (P&C) insurance.

From analytics-driven precision insurance to wearables tie-ups, take a look at some Big Tech partnerships with insurers and insurtech firms.

1. Google’s partnership with Swiss Re

In 2020, Coefficient Insurance, a subsidiary of Alphabet’s life sciences and healthcare arm Verily, launched an insurance partnership with Swiss reinsurance giant Swiss Re.

Created that same year, Coefficient Insurance develops precision risk solutions for use in employer stop-loss coverage.

These solutions are designed to provide self-funded employers with benefit plans that are more predictable and less cost volatile.

Under the partnership, Coefficient Insurance can leverage Verily’s strengths in hardware, software and data science integration, as well as take advantage of Swiss Re’s expertise and reputation.

By tapping on these advantages, Coefficient Insurance gains access to resources that enable it to further enhance its analytics-based underwriting.

2. Google’s partnership with Liberty Mutual and American Family Insurance

Smart home technology was gradually becoming popular in the early 2000s, but adoption of smart home devices was slow back then. Product differentiation was also a challenge in the increasingly crowded smart home device market.

In this context, Google Nest’s collaboration with American Family Insurance and Liberty Mutual Insurance was essentially a win-win.

For insurers, the deal enabled them to tap on the Google Nest devices and offer more differentiated pricing for their customers.

Liberty Mutual, for example, offers additional discounts to customers if they opt to electronically share the operational status of their Nest Protect device.

3. Amazon’s partnership with Acko General Insurance

Ecommerce is all about keeping customer stickiness high. In India, ecommerce players like Amazon and Flipkart have taken their battle into the insurance space in a bid to get customers to stay longer on their platforms.

For US ecommerce juggernaut Amazon, one way to stay toe-to-toe with the competition is a partnership with Indian digital insurer Acko.

Under the partnership, Acko will underwrite all agreements for Amazon customers who sign up for auto-insurance via the ecommerce firm’s app or website.

Insurance premiums for policies will also have lower premiums, and customers can expect to be issued their policies instantly thanks to Amazon’s digital infrastructure.

4. Apple’s partnership with John Hancock

The first life insurer in the US to offer an Apple Watch as part of its policies, John Hancock found a winning deal in its partnership with Apple.

Under their partnership agreement, John Hancock will offer Apple Watches to customers who participate in the John Hancock Vitality program.

Touted as “part game, part frequent flyer program,” the Vitality program rewards customers for everyday activities, and offers exclusive discounts on insurance premiums.

Customers who sign up for the Vitality program can not only get an Apple Watch for a steeply discounted $25, but also enjoy 25% off their insurance premiums.

Too keep the devices for free, they’ll need to exercise regularly for two years.

The partnership opens a new sales channel for Apple’s wearable devices. For John Hancock, throwing in an Apple Watch together with its insurance policies has helped it attract new customers.

Other partnerships that leverage on Apple wearables include a tie-up with medical insurer Aetna, as well as US health insurance firm Humana.

5. Facebook’s partnerships with Indian banks

Facebook has been more muted in its insurance plays, but the firm’s push for greater financial inclusion in India via partnerships between local banks and its chat app subsidiary Whatsapp could eventually pave the way towards insurance.

According to WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose, the firm plans to “help simplify and expand” banking services to rural and lower-income segments in the country. At the same time, it plans to also “expand pilot projects with … partners to cover financial services” – insurance among them.

Currently, WhatsApp is partnered with ICICI Bank, the State Bank of India, Axis Bank, as well as HDFC Bank.

During Facebook’s Fuel for India event last year, WhatsApp also made clear its aim to launch health insurance and micro-pension products via its messaging platform through tie-ups with existing financial services firms.

6. Microsoft’s partnership with Allianz

Microsoft has been doubling down on its cloud business play in recent years, and one way it plans to solidify its lead over the competition is to partner with insurers.

Under a strategic partnership with Syncier, the B2B2X insurtech arm of German financial services firm Allianz, Microsoft will play a key role in Allianz’s efforts to digitally transform the insurance industry.

For one, Microsoft’s Azure cloud will host core aspects of Allianz Business System (ABS). ABS is Allianz’s global insurance platform.

Additionally, Syncier will offer an Azure cloud-based marketplace for ready-to-use software applications and services tailored to insurers.

Beyond other partnerships with other multinational insurers such as Swiss Re and Munich Re, Microsoft also collaborates with insurtech companies. One example is its tie-up with French insurtech firm Tinubu Square to provide enhanced digital insurance solutions.

The post A Look at 5 Big Tech Partnerships in Insurance first appeared on Ancileo.

The post A Look at 5 Big Tech Partnerships in Insurance appeared first on Ancileo.

Insurance Partnerships - Ancileo

How AI Enhances TPA Operations and Reduces Costs for Insurers

Understanding TPA in Travel Insurance Operations

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Automation of Administrative Tasks

Case Studies: Real-world Implementations of AI in TPA Operations

Gallagher Bassett

CorVel Corporation

Xceedance

Sedgwick

Quantifying the Benefits: Statistics and Insights

Cost Reductions Achieved Through AI Adoption

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Addressing Data Privacy and Security Concerns

Integration with Existing Systems and Processes

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Regulatory Compliance and Ethical Considerations

Future Outlook: Evolution of AI in TPA Operations

Conclusion

UI/UX Design & Mobile Optimisation in Travel Insurance Done Right

Why Good UI/UX Design Matters

Tips to Improve UI/UX of Travel Insurance Products

Think mobile first

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Mental Health Inclusivity Makes Cover-More Competitive in Travel Insurance

General Exclusions We will not pay for: 20. Claims directly or indirectly arising from your anxiety, depression or mental or nervous disorders.

The Why: Listening to the Customer, Changing Perceptions

Differentiated Travel Insurance Today

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2 Types of Tendering Process

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1. Most travel insurance in-path found in Add-Ons and Payments pages

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Trend #1: Opt-In Travel Insurance Integration

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Ancileo Releases ‘2022 Global Airlines Travel Insurance Benchmark’ Amid Post-Pandemic Travel Surge

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2. Real-Time Personalisation

3. Syncing Up Platforms for Greater Value

Tips for Partnership Strategies from Global Insurers & Travel Players

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What’s being done by Insurers and Travel Players to Boost Conversion Rates for In-Path Travel Insurance?

How likely are Potential Customers to Purchase Insurance via In-Path Means?

Market Research by Ancileo

1. 2021 World Travel Insurance Benchmark For Airlines

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Global Insurers Insights on Travel Behavior Trends in 2022

1. Move towards domestic and localized travel within the EU

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4. Industry collaboration to ensure a convenient and seamless purchase journey for customers

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Ancileo’s 2022 Travel Insurance Whitepaper

Travel Expert Insights on Consumer Behavior & Insurance Trends

1. Increased use of digital touchpoints for insurance purchases

2. Customer-centricity as key to product development

General Exclusions
We will not pay for:
20. Claims directly or indirectly arising from your anxiety, depression
or mental or nervous disorders.