Caribbean Insurance Industry: Then to Now.

“You don’t need to be 100 years ahead of your time to create an advantage. You just need to be ahead enough to understand where the next generation is going”
– Frederic Lalonde, Cofounder & CEO (Travel Disruptors: Bringing fintech to travel booking)

 

Exactly, a year back, we published our Research Insights, “Caribbean Insurance Market – where is it now and where is it heading to?” https://www.manomay.biz/caribbean-insurance-industry-here-to-where-2/

One of our Customers raised a question: does this research hold good today or are there changes? We recently presented our findings to their board.

Vladimir Lenin once said “there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen” – A pretty smart comment by a Communist, but very true

Time to publish the changes, as there is a lot of momentum in the market.

A quick warning, before we plunge – these are our observations; not necessarily absolutely accurate. Please use them for your calibration & conclusions.

As we went ahead with our research, we realized that all of last year’s predictions still stand good. It is just that the trends continue to be on the rise – in some cases steep, due to Customers and their changing behavior, Issues with Legacy Technology and most importantly Increasing Expectations from Business from Tech & Data!

So, where is the market today?

Market & Maturity today:

While most of the businesses continue with the current state – Processes, Technology and Data – and the associated challenges around value drivers, there is tectonic shift in thinking for future. They do not want to continue with the current state. Deep thought level aspirations are seen & felt, across most of our interactions. The pace of churning has gone up substantially. More than what we had predicted.

The market as it stands continues to be at the basic maturity level – A level 3. (5 levels of maturity – starting from Not Digital to Extreme Digital)

Top Influencers Driving the Change:

So, what are the top influencers?

  1. Customers and their demands for fun/fulfilling experiences: Influence from Parallel Markets/Industries.
  2. Companies and their deep desire for Digital to be the epicenter for multi-dimensional growth (Transition for 80/20 ASAP) – with the pie being constant!
  3. Data & Insights Driven Business – To be right for the customer & at the same time profitable.
  4. Overall Digital and Data Driven Operating Models for supporting the Transition

Influence Curve in Execution:

As predicted by us, last year, the Caribbean Insurance Industry still has a long way to go in becoming Advanced Digital. That being said, the growing market inclination towards venturing into the digital realm is acting as the primary booster in taking it to the next level, making it likely for 40 to 50% of the market to reach Basic Digital to Advanced Digital maturity with a three-year timeframe.

  • Core Platform Replacement: Companies are after enterprise core platform replacement and new vendors are trying get the customers which is overcrowding the market.
  • Customer Focus: Out of customer centricity, Operational Efficiency & Agent/Broker expansion, customer was, is and will continue to be the flag bearer for the tech innovations for Insurers that want to be looked up to (not one in the crowd)
  • Online, Mobility & Data:
    • As usual, the rapid nature of the internet has already gotten 9.5 million users (about half the population of New York) on WhatsApp while the prediction indicated it would reach 10 million by 2025
    • The Urban Mass – App dependent, mobile driven people are 81% of the population now.
    • Almost nothing now in terms of strategy is built & planned without the support of data.
    • Elon, Mark & the rest of the social media lot have added 23% more customers from your homeland. Have you made this part of your business strategy? 73% of internet users are religiously using the few social media apps, reaching out to your customers can be lighting quick.

There’s absolutely no time to now discuss if being digital should be a strategy. It is well on the way to becoming a norm. If 20% of new internet users since last year doesn’t excite you to be digitally driven, we hope knowing that there is a totality of 30.46 million customers that can be reached online, will push you into it.

The reiterate:

If you didn’t pick up the Mantra last time, you aren’t late yet – at the lease for NOW! We don’t have much time though, for you to be ahead of the CURVE! 

  • Customer convenience – Non-negotiable!
  • Customer self-sufficiency – An absolute must!
  • Configurable & scalable technology – The only way to go!
  • Finally, the Four Pillars: Digital Experience! Automation! Machine Learning! Data – All encompassing!

And finally, there is nothing new we have covered here that you do not already know. It’s reinforcement and an awakening call. The growth phase is calling you, to come out of the comfort phase!

So, are you ready to answer those 7 questions to get going & going right & fast? Wondering what we are talking about? Reach out to us inquisite@manomay.biz or biztechinsights@manomay.biz !!

Biz Tech Insights Team Manomay

Disclaimer: The views and findings expressed in this material are for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as a guideline, recommendation, or substitute for any form of Professional (Consulting or Technology) advice. Under no circumstance shall we bear legal responsibility for using or relying on any information mentioned in this article. Unless otherwise specified, the views, case studies, and findings expressed herein are our own. The content displayed here is the Intellectual Property of Manomay Consultancy Services (India) Pvt Ltd. You may not reuse, republish or reprint any of the aforementioned content without our written consent.

 

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