Most life insurance companies provide customers with the opportunity to conclude insurance contracts through the World Wide Web. Thus, it is possible to purchase endowment insurance policies from Nomad Life under the Zoloto Nomadov Invest and Capital programs. “Concluding an agreement online implies that all operations on the agreement are carried out online, paper copies of documents are not exchanged, and at the end of the entire procedure, the client becomes the owner of the insurance policy and gets access to the personal account on the Nomad Life website. The client can apply for amendments to his contract, withdraw the funds and carry out other operations in his personal account,” says Kairat Chegebayev, the Board Chairman of JSC LIC Nomad Life.
It is possible to buy insurance products such as Life-COVID-19, Life-Persona, and CAI online in Halyk Life. “It takes five minutes to conclude such policies. We want to make life insurance products simple, understandable and accessible to customers, so we pay great attention to the development of online services,” emphasizes Zhanar Zhubaniyazova, the Board Chairman of LIC Halyk Life.
One can calculate and make an online purchase of a life insurance product in case of COVID-19 on the Centras Commesk Life website. “Although the incidence of corona is declining, according to doctors, the virus is not going anywhere and we will have to live with it all the time. Therefore, it makes sense to get insured in case of illness in order to cope with its consequences. The policy covers the in-treatment of COVID-19, as well as compensation to heirs in the event of the insured’s death. The insurance coverage amount depends on insurance program. It is possible to buy a policy both for six months and a whole year,” says Gulzhan Dzhaksymbetova, the Board Chairman of LIC Centras Kommesk Life.
The customers can apply for most Freedom Finance Life products online both partially (for example, fill out a questionnaire and attach the required documents) or fully (from application to policy and payment). The first such product was Freedom Health, critical illness insurance with the maximum insurance payout of up to $1 million. The product is designed as follows: the client fills out application, selects a suitable tariff and draws up a contract. Then he pays premiums. “We used the experience gained during this product development, in scaling the idea of online insurance. At the moment, coronavirus insurance, travel insurance, as well as the Freedom First endowment life insurance program are available online,” says Azamat Yerdessov, the Board Chairman of Freedom Finance Life.
Applications
Freedom Finance Life gave up the idea of developing its own mobile application. The company is actively working with partners that integrate the insurer's products into their services. “We integrated our products into online services for buying and booking air and railway tickets in the tourism sector. This is very convenient. When buying tickets, users of such services can insure themselves for the duration of the flight or issue a travel insurance policy. Last year, we added coronavirus insurance to such products. The second area of collaboration is banks and payment systems. This allows our customers to pay for insurance in the way the most convenient for them. The third area is the development of a digital ecosystem within the Freedom Finance group,” explains Azamat Yerdessov.
Halyk Life was the first in the market to offer its customers a mobile application based on IOS and Android last year. Thanks to the unique mobile service, people can track the status of their insurance contracts 24/7 from anywhere in the world, pay premiums, notify the company about the occurrence of an insured event and receive news about the Company's activities.
“The Halyk Life mobile application has become even more convenient since the year beginning. We expanded the mobile application with a new important function, filing a notification of claim. Now the Company's clients do not need to spend time waiting for a call or come to the office to clarify whether the insurance contract covers the incident. The notification can be submitted in just “two clicks” through the Halyk Life mobile application, and at the same time, you can track the status of consideration of your application all the way: from the moment the application is registered to the moment the insurance compensation is paid,” Zhanar Zhubaniyazova emphasizes.
The Nomad Life app is under development and will be set in operation before the end of the year. In the applications of partner banks, our customers can pay insurance premiums, leave application form for an insurance policy or conclude an agreement online.
Moving forward
All internal document flow of Kazakhstani life insurers is carried out in electronic format. Most of our business processes are automated and do not require paper. “This happened during the pandemic. (…) Digital technologies are always a big investment since the process of digital integration touches all aspects of a company's activities. Taking into account client requests, insurers with more advanced high-tech services have a greater potential for success. (…) We are planning to introduce several more digital products that can be bought online without leaving home or work,” says Gulzhan Dzhaksymbetova.
The digitalization of Halyk Life takes place in two directions: the product consumers, customers, and company's employees. The company’s plan is to introduce and actively use the digital document service and exclude the provision of certificates on paper as much as possible. Halyk Life is actively monitoring the market for new business and government services that help provide the highest quality services to our customers. “Our company will be gradually introducing other insurance programs into the virtual purchase mode in the near future. Besides, we are working to improve the remote service for customers,” emphasizes the Halyk Life executive.
Nomad Life is planning to make the most of the online format. “This includes such business processes as the conclusion of insurance contracts, communication with clients, service, maintenance of CRM systems and much more. Most of the work of our company will be digitalized in the future,” says Kairat Chegebayev.
The global goal of Freedom Finance Life is to transfer all products to an online format. And this applies not only to retail products but also to corporate solutions. “In the near future, we will start converting products to a subscription format. It is a comprehensible and accessible format for everyone. According to statistics, at least half of smartphone users have at least one subscription. They are usually popular services that allow consume content. The main advantage of such services is that it is convenient to subscribe to them and it is profitable to pay for them (once a month). We implement the same format in insurance. The plans are to make sure that the client can choose the right product, get insurance and pay the premiums with a bank card,” says the head of the company.
The potential for further growth in this segment lies in digitalization of insurance products, including introduction of a fully remote claims settlement. The possibility of buying a policy online is a definite pro and, de facto, a prerequisite for a modern insurance service provider, but only the ability to provide all documents remotely, in case of an insured event, can make customers truly loyal.
Photos are from open sources.
