Asian insurers are at the forefront of embracing technological change, according to a study published by PwC.
The pace of development Asia has been less encumbered by regulatory brakes on innovation or legacy insurance operations allowing them to switch to new technologies faster than their more established peers in the US and Europe.
Matt Adams, US insurance practice leader at PwC, said: “The more established markets will have longer legacies. In Asia Pacific where economies have been slower to develop, insurance enterprises can and will move much faster in the adoption of the most advanced digital application. They don’t have to worry about the legacy operations.”
In a noteworthy development, insurers showed less concern for technological disruption to the industry than they did a year ago.
Less than a third (31%) appear to be concerned with technological change compared to half in the last survey.
According to Adams, one of the key changes is the emergence of partnerships between insurers and insurtechs, whereas previously the latter may have appeared as competitors.
“Standalone insurtechs are seeing it is hard to have scale to compete with incumbents,” said Adams. “So the established companies have moved into partnerships with the standalones removing some of their concerns of a few years ago.”
Artificial intelligence
More than 80% of insurance CEOs said artificial intelligence (AI) was already a part of their business model or would be within the next three years.
The increasing use of sensors, AI and machine learning in combination has affected the practices of loss anticipation and compensation, moving them towards more proactive risk detection, intervention and prevention.
The drive to technology is also seeing more interaction between insurer and insured.
“Historically, the relationship with consumers has been built around renewal and claims payment,” the study said.
The study added: "Today, digitally enabled consumers are open to a much more interactive relationship with carriers, which have the opportunity to offer services on an as-needed basis. For example, you can insure your car only when you drive, your golf clubs when you hit the links, and your camera when you go on vacation.”
InsurTechs providing such services include Trōv, Cuvva and Slice.
PwC spoke to 140 insurance chief executives for the study.
People:Matt Adams
