Digitalisation is critical across the entire insurance value chain, both for great customer on-boarding and outstanding ongoing service experiences. For this reason, Manulife Asia chief information officer Mark Van den Broek said the company's digitalisation spending and efforts are focused on being able to provide innovative services and frictionless digital solutions along the entire customer journey - from acquisition and on-boarding through to servicing claims and withdrawal.
“Around Asia, we have implemented innovative digital solutions to serve our customers better. Our health and wellness programme, Manulife MOVE, is an example of this. Launched in 2015, MOVE was born from a simple premise: Create something that is simple and intuitive for our customers, which motivates them to get more active, in a way that allows them to be rewarded. It is available in Hong Kong, China, Philippines and, most recently, Singapore,” he said.
The insurer has also channelled its funds into other notable initiatives including an electronic point-of-sale (ePOS) solution to simplify the sales process for its intermediaries; a simplified e-claims smartphone application as well as WeChat claims in China; an auto-underwriting engine that processes straight-through eligible applications without manual intervention; and GradMaker, a direct-to-consumer solution for parents to plan and save for their child’s education needs in the Philippines.
Mr Van den Broek emphasised the insurer’s commitment to simplifying the sales process for its agents and customers via its ePOS solution, as well as its bancassurance partners and clients where a similar solution is offered. “Customers’ expectations constantly evolve based on the last best experience that they have had. Based on feedback from our agents and customers, we will continually enhance our digital offering to ensure that we evolve to meet and exceed [their] expectations,” he added.