The winners of the seventh annual Innovation in Insurance Awards excelled in customer focus, creative applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation as well as sustainability, according to the awards’ sponsors, Efma and Accenture.

The global awards program, which recognizes the best new innovative ideas and projects in insurance, attracted 398 entries from 251 institutions in 44 countries.

The winners were selected across seven categories by a panel of 37 judges, including senior executives from insurers worldwide.

Each entry was assessed using three criteria: originality; strategic capacity to generate long-term competitive edge and return on investment; and adaptability for use in other markets and countries. (See related article: Efma-Accenture Innovation Awards Offer View of Insurance Industry’s Transformation)

The winners of the Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards 2022 are:

AIA (Thailand) ­– received the “Connected Ecosystems & Marketplaces 2022” award for its ALive mobile application. This ecosystem of health and wellness offerings aims to put community at its core by supporting young families and helping them lead healthier, longer and better lives.

Bolttech (Singapore) – received the “Insurtech 2022” award for Click-to-Protect (CTP), a diagnostic tool for mobile device insurance and protection that is offered to partners via a white-labeled offering. It uses AI and machine learning to assess the condition of any new or used smartphone, without the need for an app.

Discovery (South Africa) – received the “Product & Service Innovation 2022” award for Discovery Hospital at Home, that provides an alternative care setting for a range of medical and post-surgical conditions that would otherwise require hospital admission.

Allianz Partners (Spain) – received the “Re-imagining the Customer Experience 2022″award for Visi´Home, a video-diagnostic service that supports customers remotely.

PZU (Poland) – received the “Social, Sustainable & Responsible 2022″award for AI Skin Cancer Prevention. Customers are able to access skin cancer pre-screening quickly and easily through an AI-enabled mobile app.

Zurich Insurance Co. (Spain) – received the “Workforce Transformation 2022″award for One Zurich, an all-in-one mobile application for Zurich employees that simplifies the day-to-day experience whether at home or in the office.

Discovery (South Africa) – named “Global Innovator 2022” for introducing several innovations such as:

• Discovery Hospital at Home. This program offers telehealth capabilities, digital tools for members and doctors, and remote monitoring devices to enable real-time tracking of clinical progress and fast delivery of care.
• Discovery Strength in Unity – Vaccinating a Nation. This program supports South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination program, setting up nine vaccination sites to supplement capacity.
• Healthy Futures calculator. The calculator analyzes an individual customers’ unique biometrics to give them a basic overview of their health and provides personal, science-based recommendations and insights.
• Motion Alert. This tool uses telematics technology to detect when a vehicle may have been stolen, alerting the owner and initiating vehicle recovery services automatically.
• Pothole Patrol. In partnership with Dialdirect and the City of Johannesburg, this program manages and repairs potholes to make roads safer, using an app for pothole reporting.

“We would like to congratulate the winners and thank all of the participants for submitting many fantastic innovations again this year,” commented John Berry, CEO of Efma, which has been renamed “Qorus.” (See related article: Efma Rebranded as ‘Qorus‘)

“The winning entries show that the insurance industry is shifting to a consumer-centric model and delivering on new experiences,” he added.

“Amid market disruption and heightened consumer expectations, carriers are developing more individual offerings. For example, in the health and wellness space, we’ve seen an increase in products that aim to improve customers’ quality and length of life. We are proud to see that insurers are stepping up to respond to the ever-evolving market and broader societal challenges,” Berry said.

Silvia Milian, a managing director in Accenture’s Insurance industry group and its lead for the awards, said:

“We had another strong round of submissions this year that exemplify the journey insurers have been on to reshape their business models, forge new partnerships, and leverage convergence opportunities with health and financial management ecosystems — all with the customer at the core. The insurer of the future can have a positive impact on society — influencing behaviors and contributing to safer, greener and more inclusive industry practices, as evidenced by the growing focus on sustainability among the submissions.”

To find out more about the award-winning innovations, visit the Efma awards portal or Twitter at #InsAwards22.

Paris-based Efma (now named Qorus) is an association of more than 2,550 retail financial services companies in 133 countries. Dublin-based Accenture is a professional services company, specializing in digital, cloud and security, across more than 40 industries.

Source: Efma and Accenture