Insurers can learn digital skills from the banks – SSP

Software provider SSP has called on the insurance industry to learn from the banking sector and improve its digital offering to consumers.

SSP head of data strategy Adrian Coupland said that insurers lagged behind the high street banks and that a concerted effort was needed to improve services.

“Every high street bank has an online capability with a proper digital engagement platform of self-service, online chat, call backs and automation of resetting of services,” he said. “If you then look at the insurance industry that [capability] is the exception rather than the general rule.”

He also called on insurer bosses to take a step back and look at their business from a policyholder’s point-of-view.

“The insurance industry needs to increase its focus and its pace around the digital world,” he said. “Insurers need to start to look at their businesses through the eyes of a consumer rather than as a business leader.

“The pace of change over recent years has been frenetic and digitalisation is now about much more than simply adding new sales channels or self-service capabilities. Becoming digital is about fundamentally changing the way business is done, whether that means better supporting end-to-end digital transactions for better operational efficiencies or ensuring the seamless experience that 21st century customers expect.”

He said that by doing this, insurers can then take advantage of digital platforms to promote product understanding and rebuild the tarnished image of the insurance industry.

“There is a whole level of promoting the engagement between the insurance company and the consumer to actually make everybody feel better about the purchase,” he said. “The insurance industry has a hard time, unnecessarily, and there is an education that is needed so consumers understand [the product better].”

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