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Niels Keuker, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer and Julie Roper, Chief Operating OfficerTo help reignite consumer appetites, carriers must align their go-to-market strategies with customers’ demand for greater customization, speed, and simplified underwriting processes driven by datacentric solutions. However, many insurance carriers fail to address evolving customer expectations due to their reliance on the traditional, producer-centric approach. This outdated marketing policy often misses the mark in yielding desired outcomes and bridging the insurance protection gap in the Middle Market. This is where companies like iptiQ make a difference.
A subsidiary of Swiss Re, one of the largest global reinsurance companies, iptiQ is moving the needle in the insurance industry with its simple yet powerful mission to protect people and their families by streamlining the process of buying life and health insurance. Since entering the U.S. market in 2016, the company has been laser-focused on closing the prevailing protection gap and is transforming the insurance buying experience by providing partners with a revolutionary digital insurance engine, worldclass underwriting capabilities, and robust and affordable data-driven solutions.
Redefining Middle Market Insurance
With simple, protection-focused life and health insurance products, including Term Life, Medicare Supplement, and Final Expense insurance, iptiQ provides coverage throughout an individual’s lifespan. “Our goal is to offer affordable and straightforward products in a userfriendly and omni-channel manner— consumers can either buy the products themselves online or through an agent in a non-intrusive way,” notes Niels Keuker, Chief Marketing, and Sales Officer at iptiQ Americas.
iptiQ understands that today’s insurance buyers expect customized and optimized solutions driven by data and advanced technology. With personalization and modern technology at the very core of its digital insurance platform, iptiQ allows insurers to easily create new and highly customizable products and offers a simpler, more engaging buying experience for consumers. By forging strong partnerships to sell insurance via trusted consumer brands and carriers, iptiQ delivers digital, transparent, and bespoke protection products in a B2B2C manner. iptiQ’s partners include existing insurers that want to provide new products; retail brands with large customer bases; startups with an innovative approach to providing insurance; independent insurance agencies; and financial services companies. “As an innovative insurance carrier, we combine three crucial elements: a state-of-the-art digital insurance platform; data-driven, instant-decision life and health insurance products; and reinsurance knowledge and capacity.
This allows us to serve as a true one-stop-shop for our partners and their customers,” says Keuker.
iptiQ’s end-to-end (E2E), omnichannel platform is designed to be insurance product agnostic and host multiple insurance lines so that partners and consumers can choose what products they want to buy and how they want to buy them. With capabilities for API-enabled integration with partners’ systems and other external sources, it supports diverse needs and creates a better user experience. What’s more, the platform’s modular design allows access to the latest technology while enabling the company to be nimble and agile while engaging with its partners.
Our partners’ superior marketing capabilities and our robust insurance products and platform truly make a winning combination
Not stopping there, iptiQ has also automated the underwriting process through its platform—making it simpler, faster, and less intrusive by using customer data and analytics without compromising on underwriting accuracy and affordability. Traditionally, consumers have to undergo medical or lab tests while purchasing an insurance policy. But iptiQ’s platform leverages consumer data from different sources to facilitate instant decisions while accelerating and streamlining the underwriting process. This equips insurance buyers with a frictionless purchasing experience without any complexity, reduces chances of humaninduced errors, and helps avoid troublesome medical or lab testing.
While automating the complex underwriting process, iptiQ keenly focuses on the integrity and security of sensitive information of policyholders and implements proper technical and organizational measures to ensure that the data is used for legitimate business purposes. “In our industry, security has always been a critical factor when it comes to policyholders’ sensitive and personal information. The overwhelming compliance requirements and regulations targeted at data protection are also burdening the players across the insurance industry. Like our parent company, Swiss Re, the privacy of consumers’ personal and sensitive information is iptiQ’s utmost priority,” says Julie Roper, COO at iptiQ Americas.
"The ability to deliver solutions, data, and analytical capabilities quickly in the marketplace empowers our distributors to grow their business while getting the right products in the hands of the right consumer"
Affordability of insurance products has long been another major concern for buyers in the Middle Market. Many consumers struggle to make yearly lump sum payments, and unfortunately, monthly payment options often include additional charges. iptiQ’s insurance products are geared toward the needs of this niche market and encourage people to purchase the right insurance at the right time, at an affordable price. In a nutshell, platform, process, and price are the three cornerstones that provide iptiQ a competitive edge in the insurtech space, and are helping the company accomplish its mission to seal the insurance protection gap.
iptiQ’s digital insurance platform holds immense value during these difficult times, as the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a particularly complicated situation for the industry. As the typical agent-based approach is no longer feasible in the current environment, insurance companies need to effectively enable people and partners to work remotely. “We couple our digital platform with electronic and voice signature capabilities, such that distribution partners do not need to directly reach consumers or rely on manual, paper-based processes. They can continue to serve consumers remotely, at a time when life and health coverage is more important than ever,” Roper comments.
Partners: the Backbone of iptiQ’s Success
While iptiQ has made its mark in the insurance industry with its leading-edge digital platform, its success co-depends on its partners.
As such, iptiQ follows several steps before determining a “goodfit” partner. The company first engages with its potential partners through indepth conversations and brainstorming sessions—then exercises due diligence to assess if they share the same passion for closing the insurance protection gap and placing customers at the forefront. iptiQ also takes partners’ technological, data and distribution capabilities into consideration before collaborating with them.
Keuker, in this context, mentions that iptiQ follows a highly engaged and strategic model of interaction with partners, which entails weekly meetings and data sharing sessions to work together and grow the business. He remarks, “We tend to be very embedded from a data standpoint—we share data with our partners and vice versa. Together we look to solve problems and issues that consumers face. Our partners’ superior marketing capabilities and our robust insurance products and platform truly make a winning combination.”
Growth Propelled by Continuous Innovation
A cutting-edge digital insurance platform, coupled with the excellence and expertise of distribution partners, has enabled iptiQ to win an impressive clientele. On one occasion, iptiQ partnered with a high-potential startup in the U.S. seeking a life insurance partner that could help them deliver life insurance products to their Middle Market customer base. iptiQ provided the client with its E2E platform and enabled them to take ownership by customizing the front-end customer and agent experiences through deeply integrated API connections. The outcome of this engagement was compelling. The startup has grown exponentially over the last few years to become one of the prime examples of a successful player. Keuker mentions that iptiQ is proud of the role that it has played in helping the client succeed. “They were one of our first partners, and over the last three years, we have grown our alliance into a highly integrated distribution partnership. We work in liaison with them from a relationship and account management perspective, where both organizations’ dedicated teams closely evaluate data on business performance, customer experience, funnel conversion, and more to enhance key outcomes,” he adds.
iptiQ has scripted many such success stories and enabled businesses to better serve their customers and thrive in the market. What remains at the center of iptiQ’s success is its multi-disciplinary team, characterized by exceptional technological capabilities and extensive industry knowledge. Further, the company promotes a collaborative culture where every employee’s voice matters, and every opinion is welcomed. With an incredible team at the helm, iptiQ continuously hones its capabilities to deliver on its commitment to serving Middle Market consumers by bringing innovative and affordable life and health insurance solutions to the market quickly.
Driven by the success of its E2E risk platform offering to date, iptiQ plans to expand its product and distribution footprint within the U.S. At the same time, iptiQ is growing as a global business, with its product offering and partnerships in both the life and health, as well as property and casualty insurance space. The company continues to extend its geographical footprint in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia to ensure coverage for Middle Market consumers across the world—making iptiQ a truly global risk-tech platform.
“We are keenly focused on flawless execution of our strategy and speed to market. The ability to deliver solutions, data, and analytical capabilities quickly in the marketplace empowers our distributors to grow their business while getting the right products in the hands of the right consumer. More importantly, we are proud to deliver solutions that customers and partners really need in the current COVID-impacted market,” Roper concludes.
July 07, 2020
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