How can RPAs change the insurance industry in India

While the insurance companies in India have embraced the use of technology since the start of the ongoing pandemic, however domestic insurers need to look at global companies to further strengthen the technology in insurance. Robotic process automation (RPA) has been successfully implemented in several European countries to improve customer experience and minimize operational risk.

In India, we have seen companies like HDFC Life have launched Ezra, the Google Assistant bot which offers intelligent services like handling dynamic queries and offering insights into policies. The bot can successfully answer more than 200 queries. Earlier in May 2020, the launch of Elsa, an Alexa bot, was one of the solutions provided for ease of policyholders.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance launched a first-of-its-kind revolutionary technology service in the insurance industry called ‘Smart Assist’. The service will enable customers to connect with the insurance company, through a secure screen sharing feature, to avail real-time assistance on completion of their buy journey, anywhere. Smart Assist is designed to help customers know all about their product while enjoying virtual assistance, and maintaining the social distance protocol.

Life, as well as non-life insurance companies, have been quick in adopting the technology in India, but global players are one step ahead as they have already introduced RPA for better claim processing and customer risk analysis. However, web aggregators have been quick to adopt the RPA technology in India. Web aggregator Probus Insurance brokers have been using the RPA during the time when our country was on lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19. There are multiple benefits of using the RPA, streamlining the data process, increased compliance, and improved customer experience.

RPA has helped the insurance aggregator in multiple ways. Firstly, insurance companies offering policy documents or renewal notices come in different formats and it becomes exceedingly difficult for the web aggregators to compile the data. But with the help of RPA, web aggregators can store all the data in no time. In several global markets use of software, robots had led to a reduction in processing time by 40-50 per cent.

During the lockdown in India, several of the employees were not able to reach the office and RPA used to gather all the data which was done manually before the Covid-19. The use of technology has saved not only man-hours but even errors. Most importantly this has helped them in intimation of renewing the policy. Many times, when the insurance companies send the renewal letters, policyholders might have shifted to another place or they would get after data of renewal of the policy. But we have been able to send the renewal letters to our policyholders 30 days prior to the renewal data and also marked to the respective brokers. This ensures contact monitoring the renewal payment by the agents so that policyholders pay the amount before the due date.

Even more important is data protection and everyone needs to stay updated with the laws that prescribe how privacy should be protected. RPAs can be used in a very fair manner in this area as the software generates all the details and it is much easier to track the process and ensure compliance with the regulations of that country. This is the right time for the insurance companies to expand their digital footprints and use the RPAs as they will be helped in better customer experience and integration of various systems along with saving costs.

Source: Financial Express