Ecosystem partners offer insurers scale, but alignment is critical

Insurers are discovering that ecosystem partnerships offer much more than access to new customers. They can provide the technology and skills vital to scaling embedded cover across multiple platforms at speed.

But finding the right partner carries risks. Integration can be expensive, disrupt customer flows, and increase compliance complexity. And the challenge goes beyond technical compatibility. Business objectives, strategies, and customer profiles all need to be in aligned.

The opportunities and challenges of building ecosystem partnerships were a key focus of an online event hosted by the Qorus Embedded Insurance Community and Allianz Partners. The event, which examined the emergence of seamless protection in customer-centric digital ecosystems, featured speakers from Allianz Partners, Qover, Caser Seguros, Cathay Life Insurance, and Al Rajhi Takaful.

The biggest hurdle for insurers looking for ecosystem partnerships with banks and travel companies is aligning incentives and business models. That’s according to 55% of executives polled at the event. Next was managing regulatory and compliance complexity (23%), followed by integrating systems and data flows (15%), and ensuring a consistent customer experience (7%).

The benefits of successfully integrating embedded services into partner platforms are considerable. Half the executives polled during the online event see enhanced customer trust and loyalty as the biggest benefit of embedded travel protection, for example. They rank it ahead of greater protection accessibility and relevance (22%), driving conversion and revenue for partners (17%), and gathering richer customer insights and data (11%).