Efma, an association of more than 3,300 retail financial services companies in 130 countries, and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) have announced the winners of the fifth annual Innovation in Insurance Awards during a virtual awards ceremony.
The awards competition, which recognizes the best insurance technology innovations, attracted nearly 360 entries from 240 institutions in 45 countries — even amidst the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove the awards ceremony to be held virtually this year rather than in person fintech news.
The winners were selected by a panel of judges comprising senior executives from insurers worldwide. Each entry was assessed using three criteria: originality; strategic capacity to generate long-term competitive edge and return on investment; and adaptability for use in other markets and countries.
The winners of the Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards 2020 are:
- Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company (India) — which received the Connected Insurance & Ecosystems award for “Farmitra-Caringly Yours,” an Android-based mobile app that provides farmers with information on their cultivation and crop insurance.
- Munich Re Group (Germany) — which won the Core Insurance Transformation award for “MIRApply Physician,” a digitalization of the life insurance application process, with a focus on reducing follow-up inquiries and shortening application times.
- Assicurazioni Generali (Italy) — which won the Customer Experience award for “Digital Hub,” an omnichannel experience for customers, agents and prospects across all digital touchpoints, with a common user experience and unique visual identity across countries.
- Upcover (Australia)— which won the Insurtech award for “Upcover,” a mobile app that offers simple pay-as-you-go insurance and healthcare benefits to gig economy workers. Workers can purchase coverage suited to their type and duration of work, providing an affordable solution for those who need it most.
- Assicurazioni Generali (Italy) — which won the Workforce Transformation award for “We LEARN: A New Way to the Future,” a reskilling initiative that helps employees develop new capabilities needed to grow in the digital era and support the company’s strategic priorities.
- Baloise Insurance (Belgium) — which won the Product & Service Innovation award for “Cyber Safe Family—Digital when Possible, Always Human,” a direct-to-customer cyber insurance product that ensures safe internet surfing, safe online shopping and safe social media activities.
- Discovery (South Africa) — which was named Global Innovator for several products, including: “Vitality Active Rewards 2020,” a personalized digital behavior change platform to drive healthy habits; “Auto Underwriting,” which uses pathology and wellness test information to automatically fulfill underwriting requirements; “Discovery Life Premium Relief Option,” a response to COVID-19 that allows customers to draw down from their personally accumulated health assets and maintain their full life coverage for no premium; and “AI Quote,” which enables brokers to take pictures of, upload or enter the details of a customer’s new business quote or existing policy and then automatically generates an equivalent Discovery quote in less than two minutes.
“We were pleased to see great inroads being made this year to transform the insurance industry in customer service, personalization, and mobile applications through AI and big data,” said John Berry, Efma’s CEO. “This level of innovation is encouraging and more relevant than ever during these unprecedented times. I’d like to congratulate the winners, and all those who submitted entries, on this noteworthy progress.”
Daniele Presutti, who leads Accenture’s Insurance practice in Europe, said, “Now more than ever, it is important to celebrate the innovations that enable the insurance industry to overcome disruption. In a year where customers have been driven in droves to digital services, insurers around the world are embracing new technologies to position their businesses for renewed growth. Seeing so many entries during this time of uncertainty shows the moves insurers are making to become more resilient and competitive. Congratulations to the worthy winners.”
