Sthlm Fintech Week 2019 – Insurtech Seminars
On Wednesday (13/2), Insurtech was on the agenda during Sthlm Fintech Week. This is our summary of the event.
The Nordic ecosystem within the life and pension industry is on the rise. However, the question is no longer whether the insurance companies will use new technology, but how it can be used for business advantages. In order to survive in this rapid development, proactive work, collaborations, customer relevance and competence assurance are crucial. These are some conclusions that we draw from the event.
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The development of the Nordic ecosystem
Michal Gromek, a leading expert within Insurtech, pointed out the rise of the Nordic ecosystem within life and pension. In recent years, fintech companies have received a lot of attention, including Klarna and iZettle who want to challenge the larger banks. Now Michal believes that the attention is increasingly turning towards Insurtech and its growing ecosystem, that is expected to have major impact on the insurance industry. The technology development is enormous and there is a high activity in the industry with growing investments, especially in Sweden, to improve the customer journey and offer more situational and behaviour-based insurances.
Michal further emphasized that, unlike what many people believe, no one between the ages of 25-30 works within Insurtech. All Insurtech companies are started by men (approximately 97 %) with an average age of 54 years. He believes that it requires knowledge and experience to work within Insurtech since it is highly complex.
It is no longer a question if, but how insurance companies can cooperate successfully. In order to gain a broader understanding and deeper insight about the Nordic ecosystem within Insurtech, the first Nordic Insurtech Review (produced by Michal Gromek, Henrik Allert and Matt Broniarek) is in progress and will be published shortly. The final version will cover more trends and insights about the topic. Keep a lookout here at itello.com!
Insurance 4.0
Our own Henrik Allert, Head of digital solutions, emphasized that the insurance industry, like all other industries, is moving towards Industry 4.0. We live in exciting times and many opportunities await, but to stay competitive the companies must invest even more in customer focused and data-driven organizations. The established industry players do not have the width themselves to cover up for all future scenarios. So in order to achieve success, it is important to understand the ecosystem and to keep track of existing Insurtech companies for future collaborations and competence assurance.
It is important to learn how to handle and use all data in a smart way, with machine learning, AI, and automation to reach new customers, be more relevant to customers and develop a continuous dialogue with them. In addition, the insurance industry must live up to new legislation, which give customers greater power over their data. It has already happened in the banking industry and the same phenomenon will appear within the insurance industry, where confidence and transparency will become keywords.
See full presentation! (video)
Becoming a true digital player
Kristin Lindmark at SPP, part of Storebrand group, talked about SPP’s major change and digital journey by replacing inflexible and obselete IT systems with a modern and standardized platform. Through the migration of existing insurances to a common modern platform, SPP gained access to integrations and automated processes and the best conditions for building future business.
Today, SPP creates effective dialogues with intermediaries, corporate and private customers as well as effective integrations with partners. They are well equipped to support both current and future business. With a complete digital offer, SPP has taken a big step to move its business from industry 3.0 to industry 4.0 through a strong combination of customer focus, process efficiency and innovative application of digital technology.
As a strategic partner to SPP, we are proud to be able to offer the best IT platform on the market and through this enable SPP’s digital transfer as one of the most innovative players in the industry. With a complete digital offer, SPP has taken a big step moving its business from industry 3.0 to industry 4.0.
Henrik Allert,
Head of Digital Solutions, Itello.
Trends within the pension industry
Anders Lundström, Min pension, talked about trends in the pension industry and its future. Sweden is facing a number of challenges to ensure a continued sustainable pension system. Different social trends, such as increased life expectancy and extended period of studies, have created problems for the pension systems. The development towards sustainable pensions was a relevant topic during Insurtech. Below, we list more trends within the industry:
- Increased demand of pension saving
- Sustainability
- Transparency
- Increased number of regulations
- Lower fees
- Changes in the value-chain
A unique journey and collaboration
Lalle Bertland Zlatanovski, Product owner at Fortnox, talked about the company’s unique journey of development. Already in 2001, the company saw opportunities in cloud computing and made sure that the first web based accounting program for small businesses was launched on the Swedish market. Since then, new programs have been developed in the Fortnox product portfolio and today there are a number of user-friendly programs that help small businesses to keep track of things.
As Fortnox continuously wants to add value to their customers and simplify their everyday lives, they also offer insurance services since 2018. It is no secret that the working situation is under pressure for many small businesses and many of them lack insurance. For this reason, Fortnox offers insurance packages to small businesses based on needs, while their partners deliver the content.
To sum it up, the key to Fortnox success is the cloud, partnership, integrations and open API’s.
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