Traditionally, insurance in India has been primarily driven by offline distribution channels such as agents, brokers and banks. However, the wave of rapid digitisation, particularly post Covid, and the slew of product innovation undertaken by insurers, has made it possible for customers to buy insurance through multiple channels at the click of a button, shared Ramit Goyal, Chief Distribution Officer, Future Generali India Insurance, in an exclusive interaction with Srajan Agarwal of Elets News Network (ENN). Edited excerpts
How does FGII leverage technology to bolster insurance penetration rates and cultivate diverse distribution channels? Could you provide examples of innovative technological solutions driving this transformative process?
The Indian insurance industry has made some progress in terms of penetration which has increased from 2.7 per cent around the turn of the millennium to 4.2 per cent in 2020. While insurance industry has a number of players, the penetration of general insurance is still low and accounts for only 1% of the country’s total GDP. So, there is a significant opportunity for growth as we are still hugely under-penetrated in terms of products, geographies as well as customer segments.
I believe distribution has a very crucial role to play in enhancing reach and improving penetration. We have been adopting a multi-channel approach through a strong agency presence, bancassurance, motor dealers, and direct channels to ensure we can leverage the strength of each channel to ramp up our reach.
We have adopted technology in a big way as we believe it plays a crucial role in enhancing reach and improving penetration in the insurance industry in India. The vast reliance on and proliferation of mobile phone usage in India, now driven by lower-cost 5G adoption (especially in rural areas), is expected to accelerate insurance penetration across the country. According to International Data Corporation India, India’s 5G smartphone market share increased to 77% in 2Q24, up from 49% in 2Q23. By leveraging technology, we have set up an insurance desk at the Insurance distributors. This has helped convert most non-straight-through processes online thereby allowing agents to operate and issue policy from any part of the country. This has helped improve the distribution and penetration of insurance in the industry.
We have been making use of advanced technologies such as big data, AI, and machine learning across the value chain to streamline operations, assimilate and analyse data to get better insight into customer requirements, provide enhanced customer interactions, smoother consumer onboarding, and for efficient claims management. We have recently launched the GenAI- enabled Chatbot ‘LEO’ on WhatsApp to revolutionise the customer experience. Built with advanced automation, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing (NLP), the LEO chatbot will offer personalised and real-time assistance throughout the entire policy cycle, providing an engaging and superior experience to customers.
Could you elucidate some of the flagship initiatives spearheaded by FGII aimed at enhancing the efficacy and efficiency of insurance distribution channels? How do these initiatives contribute to enhancing customer experience and satisfaction?
We have undertaken several measures to ramp up our distribution network and enhance its efficiency at multiple levels. We have set up the Insurance Distributor portal to facilitate seamless communication and collaboration between agents and our internal teams. This helps them communicate with claims adjusters, underwriters, and other stakeholders; request underwriting information and submit claims thereby streamlining the entire insurance process. Thus, we have completely integrated the distributor system with our company’s system.
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This apart, we have also enabled policy delivery and renewals on WhatsApp to ease consumer onboarding and retention. As mentioned earlier, we have launched the
GenAI-enabled Chatbot ‘LEO’ on WhatsApp to offer personalised and real-time assistance throughout the entire policy cycle, providing an engaging and superior experience to customers.
What is the current scope and scale of FGII’s distribution network? Additionally, could you outline the strategic roadmap devised by FGII to expand this network? Does the company intend to prioritise digital distribution channels over physical ones in its expansion strategy?
Traditionally, insurance in India has been primarily driven by offline distribution channels such as agents, brokers, and banks. However, the wave of rapid digitisation, particularly post-COVID, and the slew of product innovation undertaken by insurers, has made it possible for customers to buy insurance through multiple channels at the click of a button. Having said that, face-to-face or offline channels still account for a majority of the total number of policies sold in India.
At FGII, we have adopted a multi-layered approach for distribution by setting up brick-and-mortar branches and virtual sales offices to generate awareness and enable sales. This apart, we have 29,500 points of sale where we work with our distribution partners, agents, and other channel partners to grow the business and strengthen our presence across the country.
We are very mindful of the huge potential that lies in the digital channels and are implementing it in our overall distribution strategy. We are developing VSO (Virtual sales distribution) for a majority of the upcountry locations where most of the business is done digitally. We will have a hybrid structure as of now which shall be requirement-based.
We have implemented digitisation in our existing distribution channel by integrating self-service portals within the customer journey; for analysing customer behaviour and creating appropriate marketing strategies and also for assessing customer requirements and launching products that can be sold online. While on one hand it helps us address customer needs better leading to higher satisfaction, on the other hand, it also leads to operational efficiency translating into lower costs.
How does FGII harness cutting-edge technologies such as AI/ML and data analytics to craft precise individual risk profiles and expedite the claims management process? Could you share insights into the benefits accrued from the integration of these advanced technologies into FGII’s operational framework?
There is no doubt that advanced technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning), are revolutionising the insurance industry in India leading to enhanced consumer experiences across the value chain.
To begin with, it has helped automate certain repetitive tasks such as data entry and document processing thereby simplifying the process of onboarding of customers. AI based algorithm combined with machine learning can help analyse and assess vast amounts of data, including historical claims record, current market trends etc leading to more efficient underwriting and better risk management. This, in turn, helps insurers to price the risk according to customer profile. The pricing model, which is very dynamic in nature, will tend to evolve with more and more data enrichment/addition and an improvement in accuracy and segmentation. Moreover, these technologies have enabled faster and real-time claims and query settlement making it a hassle-free experience for customers. The claims team uses AI to help in fraud detection and investigation.
Also Read | Data-Driven Innovations Improving Claims & Operational Efficiency
At FGII, we have been adopting a phygital approach across the entire value chain starting from customer onboarding to claims settlement. Our AI-based machine learning chatbot – LEO provides personalised customer service addressing their queries, pand roviding timely assistance for claims.
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