Connectivity Advancements in the Insurance Industry

Imagine a world where insurance services like claims processing, customer service, and data management are all automated, scalable, and secure from cyber threats. This world isn’t a dream, it’s a future reality – and one that’s actually not that far away! 

A recent study by McKinsey & Company analyzed the top 10 tech trends currently (or soon to be) transforming the insurance industry. Of these, they identified five that would have the most profound impact on the products and services insurance carriers, agencies, and MGAs/MGUs provide their customers. 

We’ve created a deeper dive into these five areas here, but if you’re looking for a faster read, we’ve decided to focus one quick blog on each of these top five areas of technology that are considered the industry game-changers of the future. 

What are connectivity advancements? 

The invention of smartphones showed people it was possible and desirable to be connected to the internet at all times. Since then, companies have gotten pretty creative capitalizing on the ever-growing human need for connectivity (hello, smart fridge!). 

Advancements in connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT) devices have benefited our personal lives, allowing us to stay up to date with long-distance friends, track our behaviors, and feel safer in our homes, just to name a few. Connectivity advancements have also infiltrated our professional lives, with many companies harnessing IoT technology to improve efficiency and coordinate operations. 

What do connectivity advancements mean for the future of insurance?

If the pandemic taught businesses anything, it’s the need for company-wide digitization and connection. Now more than ever the ability to stay connected to your customers and coworkers is a crucial factor in the success of your insurance business. 

Through IoT devices, insurance companies can connect more frequently with their customers by adding touch points in particularly sensitive phases, like acquisitions and claims. By increasing the frequency of connecting with customers and the specificity of the data being shared, insurers can more accurately understand a customer’s risk and provide a more accurate view of their coverage needs.

Examples of connectivity advancements in the insurance industry

• Wearable health technology, from fitness trackers to smart blood sugar monitors, that inform underwriting and actuarial decisions
• The use of the same wearable health technologies to detect risk and prevent illness before it happens, thus reducing claims costs
• Connected cars that report driving habits back to insurers and allow rates to be calculated based on personalized risk factors                                                                   

Evolve or be left behind 

The bottom line is the future is here, or nearly here. Many of these technologies exist today, and are being heavily utilized in other industries while insurance as a whole continues to lag. 

If you’re curious about the other trends we’ve covered, make sure to download the white paper, or check out our blogs on AI, virtualization, zero-trust architecture, and cloud-native infrastructure in the insurance industry. 

Despite the fact that the insurance industry has jumped about five years ahead thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and being forced to adopt new digital practices, it’s still trailing behind others. 

This means members of the insurance distribution channel who dive into these emerging technologies sooner rather than later have great opportunities to out-tech the competition. Insurtechs are launching and growing faster than ever, taking market share from legacy insurance industry players.

This is good news for insurance carriers, agencies, brokerages, and MGAs/MGUs who make a point of keeping abreast of technological advances. One area each of these industry distribution channel partners can already leverage a major tech advantage is within the realm of producer licensing compliance. AgentSync provides a modern, tech-forward user experience that will delight everyone from individual producers to agency owners to insurance carrier legal teams. 

Want to see AgentSync in action? Click here to watch an on-demand demo right now.