Mobile App Development for the Insurtech Sector: A Quick Guide
The term insurtech is the merger of insurance and technology. The insurance industry falls under one of those sectors that are undergoing rapid digital transformation. It is true that the considerable amount of paperwork required in it cannot be executed over digital platforms.
But given the fact that this industry demands different touchpoints for its clients, it is only appropriate for insurance companies to make their services more accessible and in turn, keep track of their customers via mobile apps. It’s obvious that the best way to reach clients (and potential clients) is through their smartphones. So it’s imperative that insurance companies too should go for a mobile presence.
Statista predicts that the global insurance industry is already set to grow at a CAGR of around 6% per year and is supposed to reach around 6.4 trillion USD by 2025. In order to keep up with this staggering growth, the insurtech region will need to have pragmatic digital solutions at hand, especially when it comes to mobile applications.
This article is focused to give you an overview of all the crucial aspects of an insurance mobile application. Be it the types, the features, or the benefits, this quick guide to mobile app development in the insurtech sector will enlighten your path and help you to get started.
Types of Insurance Mobile Apps
There comes a time in life when almost every ordinary person approaches insurance companies to cover one thing or the other. You purchase a car, and you insure it. You feel responsible for your family, you go for life insurance.
So basically, there are five different categories of insurance that mobile app development can cater to, and they are:
- Life Insurance
- Property Insurance
- Health/Medical Insurance
- Vehicle Insurance
- Travel Insurance
Now that we’ve covered the most common part, we move on to discuss the general features of an insurance mobile app.
The Fundamental Features of Insurance Mobile Apps
The very first thing that any insurance company/agent needs to understand is that a mobile app is much more than just a good design. It’s the synergy between design elements, functions, features, and of course usability. While it is important for the design to represent and reflect the brand’s perfect image, it is equally important for the app to be good on features too.
While the designing part is exclusive to each mobile application, there are certain features that transcend the niche specifications, remain fundamental to every insurance mobile app, and form the very core of an insurance mobile app, regardless of its type. Let’s begin.
Dashboard/Admin Panel
This feature is perhaps the most common one as a dashboard or admin panel is present on any type of mobile app and not just on insurance ones. In an insurance app, this is the place where customers get to view all their information in a single place like their personal details, customer ids, policy number, reminders about due payments, etc.
For agents and companies, this is the place to have their most basic information displayed including their personal details and other professional ones like total customers, insurance sold till now, unresolved cases, pending customers, etc.
Since this page will be the first one to pop up right after the app is opened, companies need to be particular about the design. The page should have ample space to let users view their details without having to scroll much. Fonts, images, and buttons should be clearly visible.
Search and Filters
This is a crucial feature. With a mobile app, user engagement will increase and if your policies are good enough then your clientele will too. But you never know what’s on their mind and therefore, it is important to have a search bar placed at a point where it can be easily spotted.
Filters are important too, especially in the forms. Typing on a mobile application can get tedious. But it can be improved with proper filters for common things like calendars, common and famous areas, policy types, etc. The drop-down filters are certainly a needed feature here.
Policy Details
The elements of this feature can be guessed from the name itself. This is the place where customers can view different policies and their details like the extent of the policy, terms, and conditions for claiming the policy, the term duration, and the benefits.
So when a customer searches for the policy of vehicle insurance, then the policy details page should enlist all the information related to the same. The policy details for vehicle insurance might further be categorized into different types, for example, cars, bikes, commercial vehicles, etc.
Quotes (with Filters)
One of the most fundamental aspects of getting insurance is the quotation. As most modern apps are incorporated with data-driven technologies like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Big Data, it becomes easy for companies to fetch the previous records of consumers and offer them attractive deals.
The same stands for the insurance company. The Quote feature will not only help consumers get the price for the policies but will also help them to find insurance agents based on their specific requirements (in case they aren’t satisfied with the stated price).
Push Notifications
The insurance sector may not be as interesting as fashion and lifestyle, but it does contain pretty important notifications for its customers. Thus, the push notification is a necessary feature that immediately notifies your consumers about any new feature, update, or change in the policy.
Sometimes, a company may even want to warn their customers through these notifications asking and requesting them to not revert to any fraudulent calls or not to reveal any policy-related information over the phone.
Claims-filing
Filing a claim is often listed as one of the most wearisome tasks of the insurance industry. Back in the old days, it was hectic, messy, and tedious because of the lengthy process which required proof submission, paperwork, documentation, etc. But it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.
With a mobile app, customers should be able to complete the claim process with a few easy steps. As for agents/companies, this page can help them get an instant look at the file claims.
Payment Gateways and Check-out
Whenever purchasing is involved, there are two crucial steps included which are payment modes and the check-out process. For a hassle-free purchase, it is imperative that companies ensure that these two steps are executed smoothly. The payment gateways should include all the common online payment methods like cards (both credit and debit), UPI, Paypal, online banking, etc.
Companies must ensure that the check-out process is short, accurate, and precise. Unnecessary fields should be avoided as the lengthier process is often considered a sore feature.
Document Upload
Anyone familiar with the insurance industry is sure to know that it requires proper documents, all updated and original. So this feature holds a lot of importance in the app too. First of all, the app should support different formats of file upload like doc, PDF, and images.
Next important thing is that it should offer good hardware support as lots of customers use scanners to scan and upload their documents.
Customer Support
Good customer support is one of the lifelines of any successful company and the insurance industry is no exception. Your clients can face countless problems while using the app. They might be confused with the form fields, or they might want some elaboration on certain policy terms.
Therefore, a dedicated team of experts should always be there to guide the customers and direct them toward the right path. Additionally, a company can have a separate Help page where it can enlist the common queries and their answers.
Apart from the general features, a company should also pay attention to the technical details. For instance, an app must be built with a strong backend system, should be scalable, and should be robust enough to handle multiple users at a single time.
However, the technicalities are best left to the experts. Thankfully, the availability of trained and experienced mobile app developers for hire eases the task for insurance companies.
Benefits of an Insurance Mobile App
When it comes to investing in a mobile app, a lot of people tend to become skeptical. Investment in a mobile app can become a risky affair when your goals are unclear and your app is not useful. But for an industry like insurance where the nature of operations is highly diversified, having a mobile app that’s aligned with the current trends and user requirements is in fact a boon.
It has the potential to reap rich benefits and create a win-win situation for both companies and clients alike. Let’s have a look at some definite benefits bestowed by an insurance mobile app.
Easy Accessibility
The foremost benefit of a mobile app is that the services become easily accessible to the clients. They don’t need to visit the offices every time they need to get some work done. Everything will become reachable with a few single clicks. This in turn leads to increased customer satisfaction.
Know Your Client’s Requirements
As stated earlier, the insurance sector has diversified operations, and so are its client’s requirements. With the help of an AI-powered app, companies can know the mindset of their clients based on their searches and queries. Insurance companies can structure, analyze and use this data to offer personalized or appropriate services.
Establish Long-lasting Relationships
Acquiring new customers is a good thing, but there’s nothing more satisfying than having loyal clients. A mobile app can help insurance companies furnish clients with good services, better transparency, and prompt, proper response. Facilitating such provisions can actually help in establishing good contact with the customers, thereby making them more loyal.
Increase Clientele
The number of smartphone users continues to grow at a staggering rate. So having a mobile app means increasing your reach to more users. This in turn increases the chances of acquiring new customers and growing clientele.
Take Away
However, venturing into app development is no small feat. So the companies need to get expertise in this. The wave of digital transformation has reached the shores of the insurance sector too. Owing to the several benefits offered by mobile applications, more and more companies, and agents are now willing to invest in mobile app development to make their services more accessible and reach more users.
