InsurTech

Singapore-Based Startup Raises Seed Funding from 500 Startups and Entering MAS FinTech Regulatory Sandbox

									by Fintech News Singapore
March 2, 2017

A Singapore digital insurance app that helps consumers organise all their insurance products in one place just raised money from 500 Startups and  received approval from MAS to enter a regulatory sandbox.
The startup will be testing their solution over a 6-month period starting from 2 March 2017 by partnering with NTUC Income and Etiqa Insurance to distribute insurance products to consumers via the mobile app.
Designed while keeping the consumer in mind, the easy-to-use dashboard shows your existing insurance coverage, payment and renewal dates. Consumers now get to see how much they have to pay for each insurance, when they have to pay for it and their policy expiry dates.
PolicyPal Founder Val Ji-Hsuan Yap
To help with that mission, Policypal based in Singapore, founded in April 2016,  is managed by CEO and Founder, Val Ji-Hsuan Yap. The Fintech Startup has raised a seed round of funding with participation from 500 Startups and Undisclosed Angel Investors. The new capital will be used to expand its marketing and product development to enter the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s FinTech Regulatory Sandbox.

“We believe in Val’s vision of empowering people to easily understand and instantly access their insurance policies. PolicyPal is built on those twin principles and will
hopefully become the single point of contact for all insurance matters.” says Vishal Harnal, Partner at 500 Startups.
PolicyPal is the first startup to receive approval from MAS to enter a regulatory sandbox. The startup will be testing their solution over a 6-month period starting from 1 March 2017 by partnering with NTUC Income (Income) and Etiqa Insurance to distribute insurance products to consumers via the mobile app.
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “MAS aims to provide a responsive and forward-looking regulatory approach that will give promising FinTech innovations a better chance to develop and take root. In line with today’s fast-evolving FinTech landscape, we work closely with sandbox applicants to understand how we can facilitate meaningful FinTech experiments and enable financial institutions and start-ups to harness technology to deliver financial services and products that can benefit both consumers and the industry.”
PolicyPal uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to digitalise your existing insurance policies so as to analyse your current coverage and propose how you can further improve on your coverage. It also utilises technology to protect sensitive data stored.
The idea of PolicyPal struck Val when her mother (now recovered) was diagnosed with cancer and her insurance claim was rejected because it had lapsed for a few months before subsequent payments were made. As such, Val was not able to file a claim against her mother’s insurance policy.
That same year saw the passing of Val’s father due to a sudden heart attack. Being unaware of her father’s insurance coverage and recalling the time when her family had to visit all the insurer branch offices to check on her late father’s policies, Val saw the need to help people manage, track and figure out their insurance.
“Many people are not sure of their insurance coverage and only realise the importance of it during times of emergencies. PolicyPal was created to keep everyone on top of their insurance coverage so they don’t have to wait until it is too late,” said Val.
Believing that transparency is one of the core benefits of simplifying the language around insurance policies, PolicyPal aims to empower consumers to understand their protection needs better.
“PolicyPal was introduced to me by two friends so I started using it to organise all my insurance policies in one app. Last month when I had a flight delay, I managed to check my insurance coverage immediately using PolicyPal app.” said Ronald Susilo, Singapore Olympian and PolicyPal user for six months.

PolicyPal encourages the insurers to think digital. “We partner with insurers to provide an alternative platform for consumers that will automate part of their insurance journey such as the consolidation of insurance policies and answering basic consumer questions.” said Val.
The startup was accelerated by Startupbootcamp FinTech and is now in an equity-free insurtech accelerator programme, ‘Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS’.
Mr Peter Tay, Income’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “The MAS sandbox enables PolicyPal to experiment with offerings in making insurance simple and convenient for all. We also see synergy in furthering our co-innovation journey with PolicyPal at Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS, where PolicyPal is one of the nine start-ups that are primed for scaling-up and market testing. We are excited to partner with PolicyPal and change the game of insurance in Singapore with more
customer-centric innovations.”
The startup currently employs 11 people, with a technical team lead by Sunjin Lee. Sunjin Lee previously was the founding software engineer in viki.com which saw growth to exit. Viki was acquired in 2013 by Rakuten for $200M.
To date, the PolicyPal app has received over SGD6 million premiums worth of policies uploaded onto the platform. The app and all services are free of charge for consumers and available for iOS and Android.

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InsurTech

The Insurtech Race – Baker McKenzie Sees Jump in Potential Acquisitions Between Big Insurance and Tech Start-Ups

									by Fintech News Singapore
March 14, 2017

Asia Pacific-based insurance companies, from established players to new entrants, are increasingly looking to acquire or partner with non-insurance tech players to understand and harness the opportunities inherent in insurtech. Asia Pacific Guide for Investing in Start-ups, a new guide by leading global law firm Baker McKenzie, serves as a comprehensive handbook for insurance companies when contemplating an acquisition, partnership or joint venture in the insurtech space.
Singapore-based fintech and insurtech adviser Stephanie Magnus, a Principal at Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, said:
“Insurance companies are playing catch-up. They are lagging behind their financial services peers in technology implementation. We expect to see insurtech incubator and accelerator programmes to produce key acquisition and JV targets for our big insurance clients, and expect this to remain an exciting space for business tie-ups over the next 18 to 24 months.”

Brian Chia, head of corporate and commercial practice at Wong & Partners, member firm of Baker & McKenzie in Malaysia, added:

“This is strategically important for insurance companies. They are motivated to explore new distribution channels, product offerings, as well as risk assessment and management capabilities that are made possible by insurtech. With increased margin pressure, insurance companies need to join the insurtech race to stay in the game. “
As the insurtech sector continues to heat up, wide variations in regulatory approach to insurtech investment and utilization exist. Insurance companies in Asia Pacific are facing a “labyrinth” of regulations as they increase investment in the insurtech space.
Commenting on investing in insurtech start-ups, Dr. Isabella Liu, Intellectual Property Partner at Baker McKenzie in Hong Kong, said:
“In addition to regulatory challenges, particularly in areas such as telematics, biometrics and big data, insurance companies are challenged by other considerations in relation to data privacy, cross-border data transfer and intellectual property protection around insurtech investment.”
The Asia Pacific Guide for Investing in Start-ups identifies and clarifies what makes or breaks a deal in relation to investment criteria, corporate approvals, corporate governance, connected transactions, remuneration structure, intellectual property and data privacy across 11 jurisdictions in Asia Pacific. It helps insurance companies steer through ambiguity and uncertainty, and gain visibility into what is possible in the region’s complex insurtech transactional landscape.

Featured picture via Pixabay.com by geralt

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InsurTech

Singapore Poised to Become a Hotbed for Insurtech in Asia

									by Fintech News Singapore
April 26, 2017

3   1

The insurance is on the brink of a major disruption and insurance companies are very much aware of that. According to a survey conducted by PwC, three in four insurers predict disruption of their business over the next five years.
Insurtech is the fintech sub-segment addressing existing insurance challenges and opportunities. 2016 saw a surge of interest in insurtech globally and the trend isn’t expected to slow down in 2017. Singapore, in particular, is quickly becoming a hotbed for insurtech in Asia.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is working with the British Government (UKTI) and 15 insurance industry representatives including Aviva, AXA, AIA, IAG, Allianz, Etiqa and InsurTechAsia to promote digital innovation in the insurance sector in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
A statement-of-intent was signed in February and will see the introduction of the ASEAN Insurtech LaunchPad, which aims to facilitate collaborations between locally-based insurance incorporations and startups.

Startups will be able to run pilots and Proof-of-Concepts (POC) with Singapore-based insurers, leverage on their networks and create successful partnerships in the region.
Separately, IAG has announced plans to launch an insurtech innovation hub in Singapore. The move aims to connect the Australian insurers to Singapore’s global innovation network and vibrant entrepreneurial community, IAG said in a media release.
The hub, to be called Firemark Labs, will act as an incubator for IAG to work with top talent, startups, research and technology partners to co-create new products and services. It is backed by a AU$75 million fund.
The opening of the new hub is supported by Singapore’s central bank, MAS as part of the authority’s broader efforts to promote a culture of innovation in the financial sector.
“Singapore is recognized as having one of the most developed fintech landscapes with a growing insurtech scene,” said Julie Batch, chief customer officer of IAG. “Launching Firemark Labs in Singapore will allow us to lead the development of talent, tools and networks that will help us quickly respond to changing trends and create new customer solutions.”
Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer for MAS, said:
“IAG’s initiative presents an exciting platform for both the insurance and innovation community to come together and co-create innovative InsurTech solutions across retail and reinsurance applications for the region, and will further bolster Singapore’s development as the global insurance hub.”
According to a report released in March, Singapore’s insurtech landscape counts more than 30 players, excluding the industry enablers, incubators and accelerators.

Local startups tackle various areas including distribution, insurance management and human resources administration, aggregators and comparison platforms, insurance-related services, and underwriting and propositions.
GoBear, for instance, provides insurance and financial comparison services throughout Asia. In December 2016, the service expanded to Vietnam.
PolicyPal has developed a mobile application that allows users to better understand and track their insurance policies.
Meanwhile, Homage is a senior home care technology platform that connects seniors with the best care professionals for their needs in real-time.
Other notable startups include Active.ai and Frame, which both deliver artificial intelligence services to banks and other financial institutions, as well as Leo Tech, a software development and IT firm, and Bluzelle, a blockchain startup.
On May 24 and 25, 2017, the Insurance Nexus Asia Summit in Singapore will feature speakers from Google, Fitsense, Allianz, AIG and Swiss Re Life and Health Asia, among many others, to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to insurtech.

Featured image: Hand of doctor pressing a button on modern medical screen by Creativa Images, via Shutterstock.

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InsurTech

InsurTech Turns A Boring Financial Tool Into A Lifestyle Product

									by Fintech News Singapore
June 9, 2017

A classic insurance product has two main problems: it’s boring, and it doesn’t have an obvious value for a customer who hasn’t had any insurance claims for years.
By: Dmitry Rudash,  Co-founder Raxel Telematics
As a result, the very nature of the insurance product becomes one of the reasons for the low market growth –  something insurers understand quite well. A product that was designed decades ago no longer suits the needs and lifestyle of digital age users, who have access to gadgets and social networks, and can get most of their things done with just a click in a mobile app. By transforming this boring financial product into a lifestyle one, we can change the situation and affect market growth. The key role in this belongs to InsurTech  – bringing new technologies to the insurance industry.
Image via Pixabay
Among InsurTech’s products is telematics technology that helps gather data on driving patterns, for further in-depth analysis of a driver’s style, habits and preferences. It is widely used in the Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) industry. Per Ptolemus Consulting Group, by 2020 over 100 million cars will be insured with the telematics technology, and the revenue via telematics insurance premiums is expected to reach US $56 billion in 2020, resulting in UBI becoming a market necessity.

Although the US has pioneered the UBI-technology, Europe becomes its most important market. In 2015, the number of telematics-insured cars in Europe achieved 4.4 million, which is 2.3 million more than in 2013, with Italy, the UK, Spain and France being among top markets. The Asia-Pacific market is poised to grow exponentially, reaching US $5.5 billion in insurance premiums by 2020. Southeast Asia may become a key market for the telematics technology in the region, with huge opportunities and one of the world’s highest growth rates. Today is just the beginning, with several tens of thousands drivers using UBI, but Raxel Telematics experts estimate it will grow rapidly within the next five years, and achieve 3 million end users in 2022.
With mobile telematics becoming an alternative to OBD (on-board devices), there are more opportunities for insurers to make their product fun for the customer, where the user won’t have to be concerned about additional devices installed in the car, and will have a mobile app to get real time data about car and driving, as well as stay in touch with the insurer on many issues.
The most important feature in this new approach will be a change in communication between the insurer and the client
 Image via Pixabay
Although today the on-board diagnostic systems are the primary source of telematics information, Raxel Telematics believe that mobile telematics will become the dominating trend in the next 5 years. Per our estimate, it will grow exponentially, and by 2020 it will hold at least 20% of the world’s telematics data sources. The reason is simple: mobile technologies provide the most opportunities to modernize the traditional insurance product.
Gamification, rewards (like cashback), valuable analytics data and professional recommendations on the driver’s style are just a couple of tools to make car insurance a lifestyle product, as well as predictive technologies that monitor car’s performance, and identify technical issues before anything significant happens.
The most important feature in this new approach will be a change in communication between the insurer and the client. Today there are just 2-3 points of communication: purchase, insurance claim, renewal.
New technologies would intensify this communication to directly engage the customer, which is a key tool in transforming today’s boring insurance experience into an exciting game. In addition to just insurance, users can receive fun incentives (imagine a game where if you come home before 8 PM you get 50% off at the coffeehouse near your work the next day), rewards for driving with a high safety rating (cashback on everyday expense such as refueling, car washes or parking), driving analytics, and feedback with expert advice on increasing safety levels, thereby lowering the cost of the renewal.
 Featured image via Pixabay

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