The pandemic is putting pressure on the industry to move forward with digitalization, and Chubb is well-placed to capitalize on this demand, said its regional head of digital.

«As much as it's a tough time for everyone, it brings a silver lining for us as a business,» Roopa Malhotra told finews.asia in an interview about industry trends and opportunities the firm sees. «The change to focus on digital all of a sudden has made it a lot easier for us and for partners to discuss initiatives that are linked to digital, which speeds up conversations,» she said. 

Malhotra's role at the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurer is focused on the firm's digital distribution in the region. According to her, Chubb has been focusing on growing its digital capabilities in the region over the past two to three years. 

«It's a very active space for us, and it's just the beginning,» she said. Chubb has already established partnerships with major banks like DBS Bank and super-apps like Grab, through which it offers consumer and SME products to customers digitally.

Focus Areas

Going forward, Chubb is hoping to leverage on the introduction of digital banking regimes across many countries in the region to broaden its customer base, and sees opportunities as a result of Covid-19, in terms of new risks and demands among end-consumers brought about by the pandemic.

«The transformation of the industry right now is happening on both sides – both for consumers as well as industry players, so we should look at it from a broad perspective. There are new challenges and demands, which make it an exciting space,» Malhotra said.

Improving User Experience

The company recently launched Chubb Studio, an «insurance-in-a-box» platform to simplify and streamline the distribution of the company’s insurance products through its partners’ digital channels around the world, and allow its partners to add digital insurance options to their own product and service offerings. 

While Asia has a large and growing population with increasing disposable income, many are still uninsured and unbanked, which presents challenges in reaching out to this demographic. The Chubb Studio platform aims to address this and facilitate growth within the microinsurance segment, said Malhotra.

So far, the platform has been well received among partners, as it has managed to address several pain points among customers, such as speed-to-market as well as user experience, Malhotra said. «We are bringing the insurance experience in line with how our partners would interact with their customers, with is through seamless, integrated journeys.»