“Nothing in insurance is attractive.” That’s according to Shefi Ben-Hutta, Co-Founder of the Coverager podcast. True, but what about embedded insurance?
We get it. Traditional insurance is old-school. It’s boring. If it had an odor, it would probably smell pretty musty. Most people really don’t think about insurance. Or care about it - at least, not until something goes wrong. But embedded insurance is innovative and offers some pretty appealing benefits. It’s something forward-thinking tech platforms should think about. And care about.
Because it is the future of user protection.
Embedded insurance is disrupting the insurance industry and is expected to grow larger by more than six times by 2030. For the most part, embedded insurance is what it sounds like. It’s including protection or some type of coverage while your customer is in the process of purchasing your product or service. It protects your end-users from the inherent risks of using your platform.
The idea is that by offering customers protection at the point of sale you create a more seamless experience for them and boost their confidence in your platform. Some examples of embedded insurance are extended protection plans on electronic devices, travel insurance on booked flights and protections for both providers and renters using digital marketplaces. The protections can be fully embedded–included in the price–or offered as an add-on at an extra cost.
There are a few different ways that tech companies structure embedded insurance. The more mature platforms mostly work with a traditional insurer, so they don’t actually “own” their protection offerings. This has made sense in the past considering how complex (and regulated) insurance can be.
Other tech platforms have created a hybrid situation. From the purchaser’s point of view, it looks like the platform is providing the protection but in reality, they’re passing on all or part of the risk–and profits–to another insurer. Still, others are recognizing the attraction of self-insuring, of owning the protection plans they offer their end-users.
Why Should I Bother with Embedded Insurance?
There are a few important reasons why you should think about embedded insurance. First, customers buying online are skeptical. Offering them protection against the risk of buying from you gives them peace of mind and can convert a potential customer into a bonafide customer in a click. Second, online shoppers are smart. Comparison shopping in the digital world is quick and convenient. Some type of protection adds value and sends the message that your product is superior. Third, it’s a way for you to easily add another revenue stream.
For tech platforms that want to explore adding end-user protection, it’s a good idea to find a partner who can guide them through a sea of complexities and regulatory challenges. Specifically, you want an expert to help you set up intrinsic embedded insurance–an essential and natural extension of your product or service. Here’s why:
- It allows you to take control of your protection in a way traditional insurance can’t.
- It allows you to continue to be the expert in your own industry–and provide innovative insurance–without disrupting your roadmap.
- If you’re in growth mode, it provides you with a scalable way to get closer to your end-user.
It's a lot to think about, especially when building and growing your core platform demands all your time and attention. However, if you want a proven strategy for acquiring customers and keeping them coming back for more, it’s an idea worth looking into.
Embedded Insurance Can Be in Your Comfort Zone
Have you already thought about adding a protection option for your users? Maybe you didn’t know where to start or you’ve checked into it but it sounded complicated. Then there’s the issue of sending your customers away from your website. You can’t guarantee they’ll get the quality experience you want for them. Another drawback is that working with a traditional insurer can make you feel like you have to fit into a box–their box. At the end of the day, you didn’t start an innovative tech platform to go backward.
Did you know that it’s possible for you to design your own user protection program? One that you bundle into your product or service–either as an add-on or an “invisible” but valuable feature–and keeps your users on your site? At Tint, we call this intrinsic embedded insurance because the protection is built-in to your platform and you own it.
Intrinsic embedded insurance gives you the control you want, the convenience you need and the connection with customers you covet.
Control
Remember when that smarty pants in school showed up with an awesome, spinning, fire-spitting project for the science fair? Oh, the envy. But deep down everyone knew it was their dad who really did all the hard work. Working with Tint to build your own insurance program is something like that. Only your customers will never know you had help–and there’s no fire. It will look, feel and sound like it’s yours–because it is.
Your protection program will be designed to meet the needs of your users. Based on all the data you have on your customers, it will be personalized and relevant. With our expertise in insurance and engineering resources, it will also be compliant and efficient.
You’ll have the flexibility to create your own underwriting rules, new products, plans and coverages and determine how they’re calculated. If you want to use rating tables, so be it. If you prefer using modern methods like machine learning, you can.
By partnering with Tint, you’ll have a ready to use infrastructure so you can go to market quickly but also experiment when you need to. Our deep market data and industry know-how mean you’ll start from the best place. And A/B testing capability ensures you can easily tweak your variables so you’re always managing your intrinsic embedded insurance profitably.
Convenience
Some tech platform owners worry that delving into developing and managing product–protection for the end-user–will spread them too thin. They realize that not only do they lack the insurance knowledge to figure out critical considerations like how much risk they can take on or how to price it, they don’t have the engineering resources to build the infrastructure needed to make sure the new protection program runs smoothly - at least, not without derailing the current product roadmap.
As hard as you’ve worked to build your platform and attract customers, you certainly don’t want to disappoint them with a less than stellar experience. Imagine the one-eighty feeling a user would have if they had purchased protection from you, but when they filed a claim it was denied because you could find no record of it.
Those kinds of problems are non-issues when you work with Tint. You’re free to focus on being an expert in your industry while we focus on the insurance piece in the background. Our API is easily integrated into your product workflows. You enjoy sandbox access for testing, no-code policy administration, no-code underwriting with AI-support and no-code claims management.
With templates for terms and conditions and policies to use as starting points as well as legal experts to review your documents and marketing communications, Tint will make sure you stay compliant. You’re free to concentrate on your business and offer an innovative protection program at the same time.
Connection
While you’re in growth mode, you have to stay focused on your users. They are everything. You want them to be loyal to your brand and keep coming back. When they use your product again and again it forms an allegiance to your brand (and increases their LTV). They root for you. Tell their friends about you and buy some more.
Intrinsic embedded insurance is one way that tech platforms can gain users’ trust and build that coveted brand affinity. Here’s the kicker with embedded insurance. You only have to build your program once. No need to keep on repeating that action to capture your customers’ trust.
Your Future Looks Good With Embedded Insurance
High-growth tech platforms that are thinking about ways to boost their sales should consider adding some sort of protection for their end-users. Traditional insurance is not very flexible and is most often a cost center. Embedded insurance can be structured to benefit your platform in a variety of ways, but implementing intrinsic embedded insurance with Tint gives tech companies the best of both worlds.
Relying on Tint as a partner gives tech platforms the expertise, guidance, infrastructure, flexibility and control they need to offer their users customized, relevant protection. By protecting customers from the inherent risks of using their platform, they can increase their conversion rates and add value to their brand. They can also keep the profits that an insurance plan generates instead of passing them on to an insurer.
Insurance may not be bright and shiny, but with all that embedded insurance has to offer, it can be quite attractive.
Want to learn more about how Tint helps tech platforms like yours seamlessly add intrinsic embedded insurance to their products? Let’s talk!
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