Like many other industries, insurance is undergoing digital transformation, propelled by the surge in mobile devices and digital channel usage. Most insurance companies have pivoted towards online sales and distribution options to accommodate customers' preferences.

Leading insurers have even gone beyond digitizing their existing channels by leveraging technology, and are using data to reinvent their offerings. This results in new product categories, more personalized pricing, and real-time service delivery.

As digital transactions have become the new standard for insurers, we'll explore how payment gateway solutions enable insurance companies to navigate the changing landscape and capture growth opportunities in this rapidly evolving market.

Seamless Experience, Endless Possibilities

The speed of technological changes and increased customer expectations pose several challenges, particularly as consumers are now embracing digital channels and are increasingly adopting mobile-first platforms. They expect a connected, end-to-end digital environment where data automatically syncs across devices and channels, and their experience when buying insurance is seamless across both online and offline.

To address these challenges, insurance companies are adopting the omnichannel strategy. Brands are redesigning customer journeys and are expanding payment options so that customers who choose to buy insurance online, over the phone or in-person with an agent, all have the same consistent and seamless experience at every touchpoint.

To provide a seamless omnichannel payment experience, insurers can partner with a payment gateway that offers comprehensive capabilities. By integrating payment solutions like payment links, customers can conveniently pay premiums and file claims without switching between channels. This integration can significantly increase the likelihood of closing sales for insurance companies.

Customers typically interact with insurers across multiple access points—website, mobile app, call center, and in-person.

Roojai, for example, is an InsurTech platform that has optimized its payment processes by incorporating Payment Links, while delivering a seamless customer experience across all channels, rather than relying solely on insurance agents as intermediaries to handle frontline interactions.

Insurance companies can leverage social media platforms or live-streaming channels to facilitate premium payments for customers. For example, they can host live streams offering insurance policies and providing payment links in the chat for interested customers to make premium payments on the spot. Insurers can then track these transactions in real-time to ensure accurate policy enrollment and premium collection.

Payment Features Designed for the Insurance Industry

Discover how these payment features can transform your current payment flows and level up payment capabilities for your insurance business:

Tokenization

Tokenization is the process of protecting the customer's sensitive data by converting them into a random set of numbers called "a token."

Here’re 3 examples of real-world usage of tokenization for insurance companies.

• Mobile app purchase The customer chooses an insurance plan and makes their payment via the insurers' mobile applications. At checkout, the application sends card details to the payment gateway, which replaces the card number with the token. The token is what's sent back to the mobile app, which is then used to charge the customers' cards.
  If the application gets hacked, no card details are stolen — only the token. Because the PAN (Primary Account Number) is replaced with a token, insurance companies do not have to bear the risk of handling sensitive data.

• In-person payments An agent closes a sale with a customer over coffee. Instead of having the customer write down their payment data on paper or type into a digital form, the agent can present the customer with a secure payment page. The customer fills out their payment details by themselves. Payment details are securely sent to the payment gateway for tokenization and later to process the payment.
  With this flow, the customer doesn’t have to share personal payment data with the agent while the agent doesn’t have to take on the responsibility of keeping payment data secure. On the bigger picture, the insurance company remains compliant as no sensitive card data is stored or shared on the company’s property.

• Automated payment collection (Recurring payment) Tokenization enables insurers to offer convenient recurring payments for annual renewals. With this technology, sensitive card details can be safely stored for future payments. On one hand, tokenization offers convenience for policyholders, and on the other, it helps insurers reduce late payments and establish a more consistent cash flow without the interruption of payments.
  
  

Payment Links

Payment links make accepting payments at every touchpoint easy and seamless with a customizable checkout form and various payment options. This feature also provides a dedicated team dashboard and API support for bulk creation, automating payment management, and reducing manual tasks for operation teams.

• Omnichannel sales made easy Generate a single payment link for customers to use across multiple channels, including social media, SMS, email, or any other service touchpoint, streamlining sales operations for insurance businesses.
  
  

How payment links expand the possibility of payments and can be seamlessly integrated into every service touchpoint.

• Data-driven insights Payment links provide insurers with real-time data analysis of their customers' preferred payment channels, enabling data-driven decisions that enhance customer engagement and optimize conversions.
  
  

Localized Payment Methods

Every online business should be offering locally preferred payment methods, and the same goes for insurance businesses. Multiple options at checkout can help you expand to new customer segments and enhance your brand's perception.

• Payment localization strategy Insurers can offer customized payment options that cater to their customers' preferences in specific regions or countries, such as PromptPay in Thailand, PayNow in Singapore, and DuitNow in Malaysia. This payment localization strategy can enhance customer experience and boost conversion rates, resulting in increased customer satisfaction.

• Borderless capabilities With the right payment partner, insurers can streamline payment operations, reduce costs, and expand their customer base globally by leveraging payment solutions that support cross-border payments, enabling them to cater to customers from different countries and regions.
  
  

The Future of Insurance

As emerging trends like Smart Insurance—personalized and flexible coverage using data and technology—and InsurTech (Insurance Technology) will continue to drive innovation and transform every aspect of the industry, including payments.

For instance, Smart Insurance companies normally apply pay-per-use pricing models, which can be challenging to implement with traditional payment methods due to the need for real-time tracking and payment amount adjustment. Therefore, flexible payment options are required to ensure that customers only pay for what they use.

Furthermore, insurers will also start experimenting with embedded insurance, which is expected to continue gaining momentum in the future. This model bundles coverage or protections within the purchase of a product so that the insurance is provided as a native feature rather than sold to the customer on an as-needed basis.

Integrating digital payment solutions, such as mobile wallets and online banking, can facilitate these embedded insurance trends by allowing customers to pay for both the product and insurance simultaneously. In addition, working with payment platforms also offer insurers tools to provide hyper-personalized insurance products based on data and analytics, improving the relevance and value of the embedded insurance offering.