As more insurance companies look towards technology, partnering with tech companies is the only way forward. Now, Cloud Insurance and Safely have joined forces with the aim to redefine insurance in the Nordic region.
The global insurance market is experiencing a technological shift. Modern technology has become an indispensable component of the insurance industry that equally benefits insurance agencies and their customers. As insurance companies allocate more resources to technology, operations will need to reshape to make the most of their new tools.
According to Cloud Insurance CCO Tim Nguyen, the trend towards InsurTech is escalating because deploying emerging technologies reduces operational costs and automates services, therefore leaving insurance agents to focus on acquiring and maintaining the business. He told FinTech Global, “When we look at the insurance landscape, we often see that our customers, their expectations, and their needs are definitely driving us towards a more tech driven environment. It means that we need to provide the right technology so that our clients can lead the market and offer their products.”
It’s no secret that the insurance industry has been dragging its feet when it comes to digitalisation. However, the ongoing digital shift was exasperated by the Covid-19 pandemic as companies were forced to provide an online experience for customers without compromising on expectations. Cloud Insurance Business Analyst Joel Sundström said, “We saw a clear shift in the insurance industry, and many companies were not capable of offering their customers a digital experience. Agents couldn’t visit the customers anymore. It demonstrated that this industry needed a change.”
Furthermore, Cloud Insurance Head of Marketing Mariia Shvets added that the insurance sector is becoming more vulnerable because other industry players entering the market making it increasingly competitive for traditional players. She said, “If you look at the more incumbent insurance companies, they are already investing in InsurTechs a lot. And the reason why they need to do so is that they see the development and would like to cope with it.”
With the aim to bridge the gap in the InsurTech sector, Cloud Insurance plans to revolutionise the insurance industry. It essentially enables insurance companies to provide dynamic product offering without increasing their technical debt. Nguyen said, “We need to support the insurance providers with innovative solutions. This will enable them to actually get to the market much quicker than they traditionally have been able to do so.”
Sharing the same sentiment, Shvets added that the saturated InsurTech market is the key reason why tech is so important. She added, “Cloud Insurance set the position where we work to make our client’s tech infrastructure scalable and customisable so that it doesn’t work today only but it is also ready for the future needs and demand.”
Shvets detailed that Cloud Insurance helps companies become more competitive in the market and at the same time remain closer to their customers. She said, “When we talk about digital, it’s not only just selling something online, it’s about the whole digital flow and experience. Customers would expect service on the level, like if it was delivered offline face to face. So this is what we empower our clients with.”
Safely and Cloud Insurance join forces
Indeed, traditional insurance companies and InsurTechs are collaborating more than ever by testing new digital-first business models and revenue streams fueled by AI and ML. It is the case with Safely and its founders Sumair Syed and Ramin Jamei, who are tapping into Cloud Insurance’s digital tools to take on the insurance market in Europe. Safely is a tied agent founded in 2021. It’s specializing in short-term income protection insurance which aims to diversify its offering in the coming months. Syed said, “For us as a new player on the market, it’s important to be in the frontlines when it comes to scalability and flexibility in the system.”
When looking for an InsurTech partner, Syed highlighted the criteria they used for the search. He said, “It’s important to be an innovator and drive new solutions for our potential niche and our potential target group. To reach that, we needed a partner that is flexible, open-minded and is looking for new solutions themselves on the market.” When he saw Cloud Insurance’s tools, “it was a no-brainer. [We] found an InsurTech partner that could provide us with such a solution, enabling us to drive our goals quite fast and have an easy plug and play system,” Syed added.
Admittedly, Syed and Jamei did ample research before signing the dotted line with Cloud Insurance. According to Jamei, one of the key reasons that Safely chose to work with them is that they had access to the team from the get-go. “From the specs and requirements we set, they were able to provide everything and tailor the things not only for our launch but also for the long term.”
Safely will leverage the entire gamut of tech tools Cloud Insurance offers, including administration of policies and renewals, reporting, premium collection and payments, sales, and customer onboarding. Additionally, they will provide CRM functionality and two purchase journeys covering both online and offline sales. Syed detailed, “It’s both the automation process within the system and also being able to add on payment solutions which are efficient and seamless for potential clients. It’s about using new and efficient ways to handle the customer journey because that’s where the sector is falling behind.”
Given how varied and fragmented InsurTech solutions can be, it’s important to have a seamless experience. Sundström said, “We help with policy administration, renewals, reporting and much more. Everything insurance providers are looking for in a complete end-to-end solution, including payments, which historically has been creating a lot of technical debt and manual work.”
Syed aims to launch Safely services in September. He said, “It was extremely important that we will be able to launch by the end of September and right now, it seems very likely that we will. We have to take into consideration that we basically ticked off the project, more or less, three weeks ago.”
Furthermore, in addition to technology tools, Cloud Insurance will also equip Safely with the processes required for regulatory compliance. Sundström said, “The insurance industry has many compliance requirements and regulations, and many players don’t know the scope or resources needed when it comes to setting up a compliance structure.”
For instance, Nguyen said, “The KYC process is an important part of the insurance industry, especially if you’re entering the health insurance world. And we, given that we have implemented many partners like this, we have the experience in the do’s and the don’ts when it comes to, for example, to KYC and other regulatory compliances.”
Indeed, it’s safe to say that Safely’s launch will take the market by storm. Syed said, “Our plan is we want to become the market leader within our niche. We aim to expand our communications and services within Nordic markets, and we want to be the obvious choice when it comes to multi-language insurance communication. We want to scale as deeply, quickly, and efficiently as possible, and having a good platform will be the road map for us to reach that goal.”
Nguyen too is bullish about Safely’s success. He concluded, “We would really like to see companies like Safely succeed. Mostly because I am a very big fan of companies that challenge the traditional way of thinking about insurance, and put the customer in the focus. The customer is always the king I used to say, and companies that have the same kind of mission and idea are pretty nice to work with.”
