Best practices from e-insurance to e-takaful 1

Best practices : from e-insurance to e-takaful 1 st e-takaful seminar Sami Guellouz Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 1

Overview E-business definition E-business strategy road map E-insurance overview E-takaful Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 2

E-business E-Business Electronic commerce m-commerce Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 3

E-business Use of of electronic means to conduct an organization’s business internally and/or externally Internal e-business w Better info sharing, knowledge dissemination w management reporting External e-business w Formulation of a sales promotion, w Collaboration with partners Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 4

E-commerce Focus on facilitating transactions and selling of products and services online, By internet or any other telecom network, Encompasses all trading steps : w Online (marketing, ordering, distribution), epayment w Buy-side activities (suppliers) w Selle-side activities (customers) Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 5

m-commerce Subset of e-commerce Similar online activities Underlying technology is more specific w Limited to mobile telecom networks w Accessed through wireless hand-held devices (mobile phones, hand-held computers, personal digital assistants) Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 6

Overview E-business definition E-business strategy road map E-insurance overview E-takaful Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 7

E-business strategy roadmap Vision formulation Business objectives definition Customer value creation Market segmentation and targeting Organizational set up E-business model formulation Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 8

Pre-requisites Managers need to be «catalysts of change » n n Combine positive traits of both the « visionary » and the « efficient performer » High levels of both creativity and analytical ability Know that ideas by themselves are not enough to build a profitable business Able to find new ideas by analysing state-of-the art cies within their industry and across other industries Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 9

Vision formulation Twofold goals : n n Focus attention and effort of top management and employees around a common task Encourage creativity and innovation by expanding your thinking beyond the existing boundaries of the cy and its environment Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 10

Business objectives definition Objectives have to be measurable Allow progress tracking Ex : % of savings amount due ebusiness strategy implementation Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 11

Business objectives definition Objectives have to be measurable Allow progress tracking Ex : % of savings amount due ebusiness strategy implementation Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 12

Customer value creation Low price n Become cost leader within the industry Differentiation advantage : n n Superior brand name, high service quality, broad product selection, Leverage information available to create benefits for your customers (by data mining techniques for instance) Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 13

Market segmentation Closely linked to value creation Two steps : n Select criteria for dividing you market into segments n n n age, income for instance Consumer (personal lines), corporate (commercial lines) Decide which segment to target n Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 Segment’s needs driven products and services 14

Organizational set up What scale? n Analysis of expected cost structure of e-business activities n n Analysis of each activity of the value chain Analysis of its underlying cost drivers What scope? n n Products scope Leverage the internet to establish partnerships with complementors How integrated? n Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 Which e-business activities to perform in-house and which ones to outsource? 15

Organizational set up How to align physical-world strategy with estrategy? n Stragtegic decisions w Branding, pricing, IT and channel conflict What structure? n Integrated into the existing organization w Leverage brand to attract customers to online channel w Multi-channel offering becomes possible, cross promotions, shared IT n Set up inside a separate entity Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 16

Business model Cost structure? n Consider individual parts of te value chain n n Production, IT, marketing, sales an after sales service How can we use internet to lower costs across the value chain? Revenue structure? n n Transaction fees, advertising revenues, subscription fees (in B 2 C e-commerce) Assess sustainability of business model n n Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 Intensity of competition, substitutes, etc. Leveraging data mining techniques to analyse customer information 17

Overview E-business definition E-business strategy road map E-insurance overview E-takaful Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 18

Business models for einsurance Insurance cy’s websites n homepages of individual insurers Products portals n Comprehensive standard websites for insurance Aggregators n Internet insurance brokers Online risk markets n Large risks placed with trading partners Point of sale portals n Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 product marketing through various theme-based pages 19

E-insurance difficulties Complexity of some products Claims settlement difficult to standardise Internet suited for products where the contact with the cy is more frequent Internet viewed as insecure medium for high amounts Regulation (licences) Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 20

Internet-product suitability High * Large commercial risks * Health insurance Transaction volume * Commercial motor ble ss * Motor ic dv ea e e /L ita su r * Household Mo * Annuity products * Index linked life products Low * Term life Low Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 Product complexity High 21

E-insurance advantages Important market share gain potential w Standardised personal lines insurance Limited suitability for sale via internet w Most life and pension products, health insurance, commercial insurance Enormous potential for improvements in quality and service levels w w Better tailored products Shorter reponse times Greater flexibility in cover structure Better risk management support Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 22

E-business increases efficiency Sales, administration, claims settlement, claims payment expenses n decrease for both personal and commercial lines Personal lines cost cut potential > Commercial lines cost cut potential n Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 High level of advisory services and tailor made products 23

Market entry barriers lowered New entrants can avoid long and expensive setting up of traditional sales network “Lateral” from other sectors benefit from easier access w Financial services, internet cies, banks, online brokers, internet service providers w Internet presence and brand name to add insurance to their product range w More efficiency Established insurers face growing competitive pressure Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 24

Towards more integrated ebusiness models E-business makes it possible to disseminate information quickly and in large volumes Traditional value chain is deconstructed and certain links are outsourced to specialist providers Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 25

Internet impact on value chain Product development & rating n Standardisation, data availability and analysis, new risks Marketing n New marketing opportunities, deintermediation, reintermediation Administration n Standardisation, automation Asset management n Better information Claims management n Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 Automation, proximity to the customer, additional services 26

Potential providers Product development & rating n Actuarial firms Marketing n Trading cies, financial services providers, virtual brokers and markets Administration n Policy administrators, IT companies Asset management n Asset managers, funds, banks Claims management n Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 Professional claims managers, call centres, Repair companies 27

Role of traditional brokers is shifting Standard products w Considerable competition Products that need more advice and for which prices and benefits are not easy to compare w Using e-business, more finance management and risk consulting services w Ex : complex pension products, commercial lines Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 28

Customers benefits Greater transparency, lower prices and improved services E-business opens up new ways of reducing costs Hardening competition ensures that these benefits are passed on to the customer Internet offers a number of possibilities of increasing the value creation for customers by means of increased transparency and improved services Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 29

E-insurance conclusion From purely info and communication medium to important distribution channel Focus from selling products to consumers (B 2 C) to selling to commercial clients (B 2 B). Internet does not only impact the distribution but the entire business process Challenge of continuously optimizing the business processes Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 30

Overview E-business definition E-business strategy road map E-insurance overview E-takaful Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 31

Insurance not permissible Uncertainty (Gharar) Gambling (Maisir) Interest (Riba) Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 32

E-takaful Prevent al-gharar, uncertainty and ambiguity in the transaction Provide to the consumers with comparative informations between products available Lead to more informed decision by consumers Scope of the cover, benefits and exclusions Rate of tabarru’ for takaful vs saving Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 33

E-takaful Young industry n n Can leverage on the conventional insurance eexperience Comprehensive e-business strategies should be built (eventhough takaful is a high level brand) Takafulconcept & internet suitability n n E-business enhances the transparency (involved by the takaful concept) E-business favor the participant’s empowerment (involved in the takaful concept) Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 34

Thank you Sources Swiss Re, Sigma n° 5/2000 Strategies for e-business, Prentice Hall, Financial Times Sami Guellouz Dubaï 06 -04 -2005 35