The Chronicle: Issue 2014-19, May 13, 2014


What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology?

Technology & Innovation: Cruising to Success or to Nowhere?
Innovation is certainly the rallying cry for the current era. We wonder if by trying too hard to innovate, without looking at a bigger picture, we are pushing ourselves into uncharted and unprofitable territory. Concern about privacy is one of the great impediments to implementations of Telematics-enabled Usage-Based insurance. And in pursuit of innovation, we might be opening up a floodgate that will be tough to close.

Are you asking your customers to wait 2½ days for an auto quote?
There's an old saying about how surgeons sometimes have a narrow view of success: “The operation was a success; too bad the patient died.” A recent report on insurers' responses to digital consumers could update this: “The marketing campaign exceeded expectations; too bad we didn't write any business.” It looks like marketers and communications people have responded to the need for digital request for quotes, but there's a gap somewhere. We'd like your thoughts on our use of digital to its fullest advantage.

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca Blog
The Intersection

an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog


Events and Announcements

Two weeks until ORBiT Canada's Real Time Days 2014 in Toronto and London.


Technology

Pitney Bowes launches new location intelligence platform to connect the dots between data and geography
Pitney Bowes Inc. has announced the launch of the Spectrum® Spatial platform, built on MapInfo technology, that delivers advanced location intelligence to enable businesses to centrally manage and deliver location data. Companies can apply this technology across departments and applications to address diverse business challenges.

MARCON Mobility Newsletter: Jobs vs. The Driverless Car
The dilemma between automation and loss of jobs looks set to continue as a hot topic. One area of particular and significant interest with respect to employment and human resources is the burgeoning autonomous vehicle category. Warren Buffett, whose company owns GEICO, calls self-driving cars a real threat to the auto insurance industry.

Celent: Game Revolution – gamification in the insurance industry
Gamification is an emerging field in the insurance industry. Gamification is defined as the application of game elements and design techniques to solve real world problems. A variety of techniques and components can be used, but generally, games are increasing in popularity, and gamification techniques are being used in a variety of ways to drive real-world results. This report covers the mechanisms of gamification, shows why it has such tremendous potential in the insurance industry, and provides guidance on how to use it effectively.

Marketing

Environics Analytics: Understanding Millennials, by Stan Ivankovic
A number of discussions have focused on Millennials and how this demographic group – Canadians born between 1980 and 1993 – will affect the insurance industry. Millennials are an important group by virtue of their sheer size. They represent 27% of the Canadian population, or some 9.4 million people, and they are growing due to immigration. This group is larger than the Boomers were at the same age. When we look back at the impact the Boomer generation had on society, the potential impact of this cohort on the economy cannot be ignored.

J.D. Power report: One in 10 Canadian customers switches auto insurance carriers
One in five auto insurance customers in Canada have shopped for a new insurer in the past 12 months and 9% have switched, according to the newly released J.D. Power 2014 Canadian Auto Insurance Satisfaction Study. Brand awareness limits most carriers' ability to attract shoppers, as they typically limit their search to an average of only 1.5 quotes.

TD Insurance study: Majority of Canadians would rather avoid insurance decisions
When it comes to thinking about insurance, new research has found that there are a lot of unpleasant tasks Canadians would rather do in place of researching coverage options. A recent survey commissioned by TD Insurance found that 62 per cent of respondents would prefer to shovel snow, spend a Saturday doing laundry, go to the dentist, or even wait in an airport security line rather than think or talk about insurance coverage.

Telematics

IBAO provides update on broker-owned telematics solution
In 2013, Independent Broker Resources Inc. (IBRI), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), announced plans to introduce a ground-breaking, broker-owned telematics technology to the Canadian marketplace. IBAO CEO Randy Carroll is issuing a formal update to the industry on the current implementation plan. IBAO's wholly owned subsidiary, Independent Broker Resources Inc. (IBRI), will be introducing two telematics offerings to the industry.

Consumer Information

CAA-Quebec introduces an additional road safety resource for seniors
Few people are aware that the average 60-year-old needs three times as much light to see as clearly as he or she did at age 20. And by age 75, that same person's field of vision will even be reduced to two-thirds of what it originally was. These are just two of the many facts that seniors and their family members will learn on the new Web portal being launched for the public by CAA-Quebec.

In The Community

RBC Insurance & Swimming Canada help ensure Canadian children can swim 25 metres to safety
As part of RBC's ongoing commitment to children's well-being across Canada, RBC Insurance will announce a new multi-year partnership with Swimming Canada, including an initiative to teach every Canadian child how to swim 25 metres before the age of 12.


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