Within the first year of operating, FNB Life was recognised as one of most innovative insurance players globally at the inaugural Efma and Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards 2016, recently held in Milan. The insurance administrator was the only South African insurance business to be acknowledged at the awards.
The purpose of the awards is to foster innovation in the insurance industry by recognising the most innovative insurance initiatives and projects around the world. The selection process is based on votes from a combination of a panel of judges comprising senior executives from the insurance industry, and online votes from Efma members.
More than 149 institutions from 38 countries submitted 225 innovations across five main categories, namely: Customer Experience & Engagement; Claims Management; Digital & Omni-channel Distribution; Best Disruptive Product or Service; and Global Insurance Innovator.
FNB Life was selected as one of the top three leading insurance businesses globally in the Digital and Omni-channel Distribution category. This is in recognition of its efforts to broaden access to funeral cover through digital platforms.
Expressing delight at their acknowledgment, CEO of FNB Life, Lee Bromfield, says their plan is to change the face of funeral insurance by making it more accessible, transparent and affordable. He says over the last few months, they have made funeral cover available across FNB’s user-friendly platforms such as ATMs, Cellphone Banking and Online Banking.
In a country where insurance is one of the most saturated sectors, FNB Life wants to use technology, among other tools, to disrupt the market. In addition to simplifying take up, the entity has also simplified the claims process by directly verifying claims through the National Population Registry. This means claimants are no longer required to submit a death certificate, only the notification of death form.
“Owning a funeral plan should not be complicated; hence we are investing resources to alleviate consumer angst. As a relatively new player in the market, we are planning a number of changes to offer a superior customer experience across all our platforms,” says Bromfield.
