Suramericana announced its decision to enter the insurtech ecosystem in Latin America through the creation of a new company. This is the new bet of SURA Insurance, aimed at promoting the digital transformation process in its businesses, and improving the experience of all those seeking to acquire insurance in a simple way, from the comfort of their cell phone.
This insurtech from South America will speed up the digital process so that anyone can interact with Seguros SURA 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and have their insurance at their fingertips. In addition, the new company will develop innovative strategies that will allow subsidiaries in the region to reach underserved segments and new markets, such as renewable energy, tourism, agriculture, gamers, construction, new mobility solutions, among others.
“With the creation of insurtech, at Suramericana we seek to have the highest level of participation in the 9 Latin American countries where we are present, with our direct and digital channels. We are aware that the needs of our users are changing, which is why we want to offer them a value proposition that allows us to get closer to them through a more agile, intuitive and simple experience, designed for them as increasingly digital and hyperconnected users,” he said. Juana Francisca Llano, President of Suramericana.
Under an independent operating model as a subholding, the support of the SURA brand and a startup-type innovation model, The company plans to become one of the main players in the Latin American insurtech ecosystem by 2025.
With this initiative, Suramericana plans to gain 2.6 million new customers throughout Latin America, of which 1.8 million will be in Colombia. As Juana Francisca indicated, “this incursion will allow us to go from a participation in direct channels of 2.8% to more than 10% throughout the region. In 5 years we plan to launch 22 voluntary solutions under a completely digital experience in our 9 markets. We want to consolidate our position as the fourth largest Latin American insurance company in the region, and as one of the first players in the sector to generate support and trust in the digital world.”
In the case of Colombia, Suramericana plans to offer eight solutions aimed at various segments: on the one hand, to continue developing mobility with solutions for cars, motorcycles, bicycles and travel; and on the other, to focus on Health, Business and to strengthen the Home with solutions such as leasing. To do this, attributes such as channel diversification, economies of scale, standardization of customer experience and a focus on digital relevance based on data will be leveraged.
New products
In addition to the benefits for the company's digital transformation, the insurtech will develop new portfolio products based on people, their needs and their lifestyles.
“With this innovation we want to democratize insurance, so that any Latin American can have access and self-manage their services and products from their cell phone, in one click, according to their needs. This will help us reach different segments and enable simple, gamified interaction that is available at any time of day.”, said Leonardo Martínez, Leader of the Digital Direct Channel Project at Suramericana.
While it is true that the trend in the sector is towards non-intermediation and the digitalization of all interactions, Seguros SURA – thinking of all its users – proposes an experience phygital: a hybrid model in which insurance will continue to be sold “physically” through an advisor, but the user will also be able to contract it “digitally” from the insurtech.
The ultimate goal is to continue improving the portfolio and processes to ensure the best experience and service for all customers, whether they visit a physical location or connect through digital channels.
To achieve this, Suramericana set out to attract suitable talent from the region to meet the challenge, and will also seek to have experts in topics such as: development of front y Back-end, architecture and data science, scrum, web and application development, e-commerce and CRM, among others. All of this based on a “borderless” operating model made up of hundreds of people from all over Latin America.
With a three-stage structure, the project estimates the participation of more than 250 people in 5 years, of which approximately 100 will be in Colombia. The insurtech will first arrive in Colombia, then in Chile and Mexico, and, in a third stage, in the rest of the Latin American countries where SURA is present.
“The insurtech industry is growing by leaps and bounds and Seguros SURA cannot be alien to this process. With our insurtech we seek to have a leading role in this ecosystem, accelerating the process of digital transformation for users and creating a simple, personalized and always available experience,” concluded Leonardo Martínez.