The successful insurers of the future will be those that harness Big Data to provide a personalised service, new research suggests.

Australians want insurance customised to their behaviour and lifestyle, such as motor insurance based on how they drive, according to research commissioned by Telstra.

The researchers interviewed more than 3100 consumers in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Although 80% of Australian respondents go online to consider and buy financial services such as insurance and banking – the largest group by country – the study finds people still want to talk to someone and receive a tailored service.

Telstra says access to data and the ability to mine and use it effectively “will decide which financial institutions will prosper and which will be supplanted during this next wave of transformation”.

Cloud computing will enable collection of masses of data, which can be added to existing information.

“Smart institutions will use this data, and analytics on it, to help consumers simplify their lives by anticipating their needs and creating value-added services that support the increasingly dynamic lifestyles we choose,” the report says.

Although incumbents have scale, the ability to find data, analyse it and act on insights will attract new entrants to financial services.

But current players have an enormous advantage because of the quality of their data.

“More than a decade of focus on data governance and quality by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and similar regulators internationally has provided an advantage that flows through to analytics. The better the data you start with, the more reliable the results of your personalisation, contact and marketing analytics.”