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Insurers face unprecedented challenges. Technology is rapidly changing how they do business, giving them greater access to big data but also creating cybersecurity risks and increasing the threat of the Big Techs entering the insurance market. Moreover, the ongoing power shift in the client’s favour is making it vital for insurers to rethink their position and their future relevance. Open Insurance holds the key.

Definition of Open Insurance

A simple definition of Open Insurance is ‘the sharing of vast and ever-growing volumes of structured data in a digital ecosystem to stimulate the creation of new and innovative insurance-related propositions for consumers’.

When customers are made the focal point of new business models, new opportunities continuously arise for cross-sectoral partnerships, platforms or other collaborative efforts. This means that it is crucial for insurance companies to allow third parties (e.g. banks, fintech, aggregators, mobility providers, etc.) to access their data, products and services, and also for insurers to be present – and relevant – in their customers’ digital ecosystems.

Insurers can learn from Open Banking and drive API-enabled access to insurance data, products and services. A rich API portfolio supports the best service provision towards customers and partners within third-party platforms. It is also important for insurers to offer a good developer experience in order to create the optimal environment for collaborative partnerships and innovation.

How can you embark on your Open Insurance journey?

Insurance companies can embark on their Open Insurance journey right now by developing new strategies around open-access products and the wider ecosystems in which they want to operate.

It is time to open up your platforms and technologies. You need to consider issues relating to standards for partnerships and data sharing, and also how to ensure compliance with regulations.

You can start exploring how initiatives in other sectors could be replicated in the insurance sector. Which new skills and talents does your company need in order to implement these changes?

At INNOPAY, we can help insurers to become part of this new world. We have a long track record of supporting companies as they embrace openness by developing new schemes and standards as well as strategies for ecosystems, pricing, technology and regulation.

Contact us for expert guidance on your Open Insurance journey to a relevant future.