At Efma’s recent Insurance Summit, Efma and Accenture have announced the winners of their first annual Innovation in Insurance Awards. The programme, jointly launched by Efma and Accenture, seeks to reward and foster innovation in the industry, and recognises the most-innovative insurance initiatives and projects around the world.
148 institutions from 37 countries submitted 224 innovations within five categories: Customer Experience & Engagement; Claims Management; Digital & Omni-channel Distribution; Best Disruptive Product or Service; and Global Insurance Innovator.
The winners were selected by a combination of votes from a panel of judges comprised exclusively of senior executives from the insurance industry, and online votes from Efma members. Winners were recognised at an award ceremony hosted by Efma and Accenture in Milan on June 9 during Efma’s Insurance Summit gala dinner
“Innovation is essential for insurance organisations to succeed in a digitally connected world,” said Vincent Bastid, CEO of Efma. “We’re delighted that the Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance initiative can support that innovation by showcasing new ideas, technologies and strategies from organisations across the world. The winners of the first Innovation in Insurance awards exemplify the proactive approach taken by organisations that are leading change and transforming the industry.”
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd., a member of MS&AD Insurance Group, Japan, won the Customer Experience & Engagement award for its dramatic improvement of contact centre operations using Watson, which enables high quality responses to increasing customer needs and efficient contact centre operations. The system leverages Watson Explorer, Work Force Management System and Oracle Service Cloud.
Also in the spotlight were Pacifica, France, which took second place in the category with its e-depann’ service, and Desjardins, Canada, which was awarded third place with its Ajusto 100% Mobile Telematics app.
Allianz France won the Claims Management award for its Your expert is in the sky claims solution, which enables speed, simplicity and reactivity in assessing claims by using drones to examine damage to large buildings.
Second place in this category went to Bradesco Seguros, Brazil, for its Operation Disaster solution, while Zurich, Spain, took third place with its Proactive Claims Management for customers by Digital Channel solution.
USAA, USA, won the Digital & Omni-channel Distribution award for its Digital Virtual Assistant, which leverages web and mobile channels to allow more members to satisfy their needs without the assistance of a representative.
Second place was awarded to Haven, USA, for its Entirely Online Purchasing Process for Term Life Insurance. First National Bank, South Africa, took third place with its Digitalising Funeral Insurance project.
Europ Assistance Group, France, won the Best Disruptive Product or Service award for its Connect et Moi solution, which leverages IoT capacities to link a behavioural algorithm with an emergency human call centre, to allow elderly people to live at home securely.
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co, Japan, took second place with its Auto Insurance for autonomous vehicle public road experiment. Third place was awarded to Telenor India for its Telenor Suraksha (Free Life Insurance) product.
AXA Group, France, won the Global Innovator of the Year award for its digital insurance model, which includes the Health Keeper health and wellbeing platform; the RUOK digital service which brings peace of mind to families with isolated seniors; the WellBe social network; and the AXA Drive app, which calculates a “driving score” using data such as acceleration, braking and turns during a trip.
Second place in this category was awarded to USAA, USA, and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co, Japan, took third place.
“Sweeping changes across consumer behaviour, technology innovations and big data are reshaping traditional insurance business models and what it takes to compete,” said Edwin van der Ouderaa, managing director, Accenture Digital, Financial Services. “The innovators recognized by these awards are helping to reinvent the insurance industry by re-imagining the way they operate to become truly customer-centric organizations.”
All submitted innovation case studies are stored on a portal, forming the first-of-its-kind global insurance innovation repository, which is accessible to all insurers.
To learn more about the Efma Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards (I3) www.efma.com/innovationininsurance
