E-Business
The Unified Insuree Experience Advantage is Key for Insurers to Scale into New Markets
By Dorotea Vatavuk
With customers rapidly adopting digital communication channels that offer quick, simple and convenient processes, digitalisation of the entire insurance process is unavoidable. In fact, digital transformation for the insurance industry is no longer an option, but a necessity.
Traditional processes are increasingly becoming frustrating for the modern customer, who is realising that there are better and easier ways to do things. These are trends that those customers are seeing across other industries and expect their insurers to deliver similar digitalised processes that enhance the customer experience.
For the most part, we are seeing a serious underutilisation of digital channels in the insurance sector. While some insurance companies are trying to keep up with the needs of the modern customer by using digital channels, such as SMS and email, most are still relying on traditional platforms for their business-critical processes.
So, in reality, many insurers are adding digital channels to their traditional ones, but are not using them in a way that leads to the optimisation of their business processes.
This results in complex onboarding and policy renewal procedures that are tiring for both clients and staff. This, alongside an overall process that still relies on traditional engagement methods such as telephone or face-to-face communication and even the physical printing and posting of documents.
Omnichannel strategy
The modern customer looking for cover and insurance companies must realise that adopting an omnichannel communication strategy is the key ingredient to delivering a superior insuree experience. There is a need to offer support over multiple communication channels, and insurance companies need to ensure that they have the right channels for different customer segments.
Starting with onboarding – where insurance companies make their first impression – the modern customer expects a simple and hassle-free process. Once the client is onboarded, the insurer should focus on client retention, keeping in mind their own profitability.
However, we are still observing a lack of pro-active support and a lot of missed opportunities, mainly due to insurers’ inability to personalise engagement. Another challenge is that without rich data, insurance companies are unable to provide the most suitable products for their customers along the different steps of their lifecycle. This means a direct loss of business that was actually within the insurer’s reach.
An omnichannel communication strategy will give insurers the ‘Unified Insuree Experience’ advantage, so it is key for businesses to automate their processes to serve their customers better and faster. In return, companies will save on resources, time and money. While this might sound contradictory, it is actually quite achievable.
Insurance businesses can streamline their processes and provide their clients with a superior level of service, while reducing costs at the same time. Similarly, it is possible to scale customer engagement and experience by, for example, making e-policy delivery faster and more secure, while lowering costs.
Optimising the contact centre
In addition, it is possible for insurers to optimise their contact centre, or even fully replace the legacy, on-premises contact centre with a digital one. With a cloud-based digital contact centre, multichannel interactions with clients can be made through voice, email, SMS, and even chat apps, allowing insurers to be in touch with their clients from virtually anywhere and on the channels their customers prefer.
Achieving the Unified Insuree Experience advantage is not only possible but is expected of any insurance service provider that aims to stay profitable and scale into new markets.
To meet this increased demand for innovative product and service offerings, insurers must partner with a service provider that can lead them through the digitalisation of each and every step of their customer’s lifecycle.
Ideally, companies should avoid introducing partial solutions or single channels, and rather look for a provider that can support full digitalisation, with an all-in-one, feature-packed solution that allows for a 360-degree view of the customer, cross-channel orchestration and powerful analytics. Everything a company needs for a successful journey into the digital realm should be on one platform.
In essence, insurance companies should partner with a provider that can bring it all together and ensure that their digital channels are not underutilised and that the organisation does not miss opportunities to grow its business throughout the insuree lifecycle. The right partner will provide a solution that can support an insurer’s expansion into new markets and follow them as they grow.
Dorotea Vatavuk is Enterprise Sales Lead at Infobip
Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has reaffirmed the importance of collaboration in advancing Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
L-R: Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency, with Brig. Gen., Abdulrahman Idris, team lead of the Senior Executive Course 46 2024, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos during a strategic tour visit to the agency headquarters in Abuja.
Abdullahi disclosed this during a strategic engagement with participants of the 2024 Senior Executive Course 46 from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), a delegation led by Brigadier General Abdulrahman Idris.
Abdullahi emphasised that no organisation can achieve its goals in isolation, stressing the need for collaborative efforts to harness ideas, experiences and insights for national development. He highlighted the potential of collaboration between NITDA and NIPSS to leverage technology and digital innovation for driving economic growth, creating job opportunities and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).
“At NITDA, we have re-imagined our social contract with Nigerians, focusing on improving service delivery and fostering the swift growth of the ICT sector,” said Abdullahi. He emphasised the agency’s commitment to serving Nigerians and outlined the strategic direction outlined in NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2024-2027) 2.0. The SRAP is structured around eight pillars aimed at fostering digital literacy, building a robust technology research ecosystem, strengthening policy implementation, promoting inclusive access to digital infrastructure, enhancing cybersecurity, nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship, forging partnerships and cultivating a vibrant organisational culture.
The brigadier-general provided insights into NIPSS’s role as Nigeria’s foremost policy think-tank, tasked with developing top-class technocrats to drive national development initiatives. He highlighted NIPSS’s contributions to policy formulation and implementation over the years, emphasising the institution’s mandate to address issues of national interest, particularly in the digital economy sector.
The collaboration between NITDA and NIPSS underscores the importance of synergistic efforts in harnessing technology and innovation for national development. By leveraging each other’s expertise and resources, both organisations aim to drive economic growth, foster job creation, and position Nigeria as a leading player in the global digital economy.
Through strategic partnerships and collaborative initiatives, NITDA and NIPSS are poised to chart a path towards sustainable development, leveraging digital innovation as a catalyst for socioeconomic transformation and inclusive growth.
Ivorypay, a blockchain-based payment and remittance firm, has teamed with Tether, the stablecoin pioneer, to improve crypto-based transactions across Africa.
Tether is the business that developed the stablecoin, USDT, and with this agreement, it will mint and issue USDT straight to IvoryPay.
According to the partners, this agreement would provide more dependable and economical digital transaction choices to businesses and consumers across Africa.
Ivorypay will leverage Tether’s widespread acceptance to provide a buffer against the typically unpredictable nature of crypto-currencies, increasing user confidence in using digital currencies for daily transactions as well as cross-border transfers.
“Partnering with Tether is a strategic move that aligns perfectly with our vision of simplifying and securing crypto transactions across Africa,” said Oluwatobi Ajayi, CEO, IvoryPay.
He added: “It gives us easy access to the liquidity we need to cater to more businesses and individuals across the continent and to do that cheaper and faster than anybody else, which we believe will significantly enhance user trust and increase adoption rates across our platforms.”
“This strategic partnership between Ivorypay and Tether represents a transformative step for digital transactions across Africa,” said Aly Madhavji, managing partner of Blockchain Founders Fund.
“By incorporating USDT into their payment systems, IvoryPay aims to increase financial inclusion and streamline cross-border remittances, establishing a new standard for stability and efficiency in the region’s financial services We are thrilled to assist Ivorypay as they endeavour to create new opportunities for businesses and consumers across Africa.”
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has revoked the certificates of incorporation of NIPOST Properties and Development Company and NIPOST Transport and Logistics Services Limited.
This revocation followed the discovery of an illegal transfer of N10 billion in restructuring funds released by the Federal Ministry of Finance to the agency’s subsidiaries.
The CAC, in a statement on Monday, said, “The General Public is hereby informed that the Commission, sequel to its powers contained in Section 41 (7) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 3 of 2020, revoked the Certificates of incorporation of the below-mentioned companies because the same was improperly procured. These companies are:
“1. NIPOST Transport and Logistics Services Company Ltd RC 1673881 and 2. NIPOST Properties & Development Company Ltd RC 1673971.
“By virtue of these revocations, the Companies are deemed to be dissolved and their Assets and Liabilities transferred to the Nigeria Postal Services established under the Nigerian Postal Services Act Cap N127 LFN 2004.”
It was gathered that CAC records confirm that as of November 8, 2023, some top officials of BPE control significant shares in the subsidiaries.
Responding to these discoveries, the Senate passed a resolution on December 30, 2023, for a probe into the matter.
The resolution declared the NIPOST subsidiaries in question “irregular and illegal” and recommended their immediate winding-up and deregistration.
The Senate resolution goes beyond immediate action; it demanded a thorough investigation into the N10 billion voted by the Ministry of Finance for NIPOST’s restructuring and recapitalisation.
Should evidence of “injudicious utilisation” surface, the Senate said the committee responsible must recover the full amount.
In its resolution of December 30, 2023, the Red Chamber said it uncovered an alleged illegal transfer of Federal Government shares in two NIPOST subsidiaries to private individuals.
The discovered infractions sparked outrage, prompting the lawmakers to call for immediate action.
Some individuals in key positions within the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and NIPOST were listed as shareholders of the two NIPOST subsidiaries.
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