Who’s Afraid of Amazon & Co?

Amazon is approaching the industry in small steps. In Europe it started in 2016, when it partnered with Warranty Group in order to offer its customers insurance coverage (Amazon Protect) for certain electronic products against accidental damage, malfunction, breakdown or theft that is purchased through the same. company website, with protection from two to five years from delivery of the product.

At the beginning of 2018, the startup Insurtech Deutsche Familienversicherung through a collaboration with Amazon and Amazon Pay, allows the customer who uses Amazon Echo to take out insurance through the virtual assistant Alexa. For the moment we are only talking about health insurance for travel abroad, but soon they will switch to civil liability and other products.

In June, Bezos’ creature led a $ 12 million investment in Acko Technologies, a startup that owns online insurance provider Acko General Insurance.

At the end of August, the Reuters indiscretion gave for certain the launch in the United Kingdom of an online rc auto comparator able to make us forget the flop of its cousin “Google”.

In October, the American insurance company Travelers announced a collaboration with Amazon to offer kits, connected to Amazon Echo Dot, equipped with security cameras, water sensors, motion detectors with multi-sensor functionality, to help homeowners to protect themselves from the most common problems by promoting a proactive approach to home security.

In the meantime, Amazon would have asked the Indian insurance market control body for permission to sell life and health policies via Amazon Pay. On the other hand, always in the Asian country, Paytm, Indian e-commerce, with the support of Soft-bank, Alibaba Inc. (BABA) and Warren Buffet, has already obtained the necessary license to sell insurance policies.

For those who still have doubts about the group’s will to become an influencer in the insurance sector, in the Bel Paese a few days ago Assicurazioni Generali stated that customers who have taken out a home policy will receive Amazon Echo Dot, the smart speaker that allows you to use the Alexa voice service, through which you can receive suggestions for home care, the management of small domestic problems and edutainment contents related to insurance services and risk prevention.

A strong sign of how much the topic is heard in the Italian market was given by Maria Bianca Farina, confirmed in recent days as president of ANIA, the Association that represents insurance companies.

In a recent interview on November 19, 2018 with “The economy of Corriere della Sera”, Farina underlines how among the challenges that will have to take place in what will be his second term, it is a must to talk about giants like Amazon.

«Our job is complex: skills are needed and the sector is highly regulated. The digital giants haven’t entered yet but they could. But they will have to acquire know-how and comply with the rules. They will therefore become competitors like others ».

What can our people do to manage such an entrance?

«For the insurance sector, the winning way is not just to pay compensation, but to offer simple, transparent, easily accessible services. Insurance companies will have to deeply innovate the business model, making it more agile, flexible and closer to the changing needs of customers and the reference context. The transformation will have to take place by developing ecosystems of new services and activities capable of substantially evolving the phases of the traditional value chain ».

And how is ANIA moving in this direction?

«The association has an innovation laboratory. For example, we are working on the insurance needs created by the new mobility, such as car sharing. Companies will not necessarily have to rent cars, but they will have to know how and what to insure ».