Insurers won’t survive unless they give up on outdated distribution models and “become part of the journey” with an integrated customer experience, says AIA Group Managed Markets Digital Lead Roy Kwok.

Hong Kong-based Mr Kwok says having the right technology foundation and offering different Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with a range of digital platforms offering targeted service to their users is essential for sustainable growth in a new “connected insurance ecosystem”.

“Traditional service calls, or redirection to other platforms to fulfill the service, will never exceed – or even meet – the digital expectations of customers nowadays,” Mr Kwok tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Insurers will hardly survive with a sideline or unconnected journey to engage their customers.”

With “digital giants” offering many products and services, insurers must get themselves ready to integrate their services and provide faster and more flexible options, allowing them to partner with multiple platforms and channels efficiently, Mr Kwok says.

As start-ups disrupt and influence customer behavior, simply creating new digital offerings will not meet ever-growing customer insistence on an “integrated” experience, he says.

“Insurers should engage to become part of the journey, and connect with the digital ecosystems, rather than being positioned as an add-on to other products or services,” Mr Kwok said.

As they explore expand markets and distribution channels away from traditional broker partnerships to “avoid being knocked off by the new digital-led insurers and different disruptors,” traditional insurers have already decoupled some capabilities from core legacy platforms, replacing them with new technology solutions to improve flexibility and deliver new products and services faster, with the state-of-the-art features.

Still, most major insurance players continue to generate revenue through their primary agency channel, relying heavily on face-to-face meetings with customers, and are awakening to the extensive challenges they face to engage and integrate themselves as part of the customer journey as expectations of quality and agility soar.

Insurers must find the right technology strategy to capitalise on different customer concerns such as health, wealth, home & living, and mobility, says Mr Kwok, who points to motor insurance as an example.

“With so many platforms trading motors and servicing the owner, what value can insurers add to these platforms and become part of the journey to service the user and capture the business opportunity?” Mr Kwok said.