Traditional insurance companies have something to worry about: large technological multinationals such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple are gearing up to land in the insurance sector and one in three customers worldwide would be willing to purchase one of their products. The figure is up sharply compared to three years ago, when only 17,5% of users were willing to do so. These are the data that emerge from Capgemini's "World Insurance Report 2018", created in collaboration with Efma.
In general, more than half of the interviewees positively evaluate the possibility of managing transactions via the web and over 40% of the sample believes that apps represent a fundamental channel.
The analysis then underlines that, in the international ranking for evaluating the "customer experience", insurance companies are classified only in third place, behind the retail and banking sectors. And the gap in satisfaction has increased, especially among young people: considering the range of customers between 18 and 34 years old, one in three says they have had a positive experience with their bank, but only one in four says the same thing of your insurance company.
"The use of data and the ability to offer a truly digital customer experience are and will be key factors for the insurance companies of the future: it is no coincidence that they represent the strengths of Big Tech such as Amazon and Google - explains Raffaele Guerra, executive vice president and head of insurance of Capgemini Italy – The tech giants pose a real threat, more than the players in the insurance industry are willing to admit. Insurance companies, accustomed by nature to assessing risks, urgently need to analyze the context and consider the risk of a loss of competitiveness, in order instead to be able to evolve and survive".
But how are the companies moving in this period? The insurance market is trying to catch up by investing in digital technologies. Nearly two-thirds of companies are testing smart watches and wearables, while more than a third have implemented telematics technologies. Over 55% of the sample of top managers interviewed are investing in speech recognition technologies and in the blockchain, while the automation of robotic processes currently remains the most used strategic digital technology in the entire sector.
