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How Conversational AI Is Improving Claims For Customers and Insurers

By Srini Vinnakota, VP Product, Avaamo

Almost everyone can remember a stressful moment when they needed to contact their insurance company about a claim. In many cases, people call their insurers after difficult life events like a serious illness or a car accident. While customers want their cases to be handled quickly, they also want to know they will be supported and can get the answers they need. It’s a tough process for both customer and insurer.

Conversational AI – – a system that allows customers to have a conversation with a computer via text or telephone — is changing how the claims process works from first call to claim. With conversational AI, insurers can easily handle the increased volumes of calls and inquiries. As a result, the claims process can drop from a typical 72 hours to minutes.

In addition, a virtual assistant is also able to better route questions and inquiries so they are quickly resolved, with the correct advice. The virtual assistant can do all of this while following compliance and security guidelines required by insurance companies and ensuring that claims operating procedures for improved financial results are followed to a tee.

The system also benefits insurance companies, who have to navigate fraudulent claims as part of their daily business. Conversational AI can ensure insurers are following compliance and security guidelines and enforce strict adherence to detailed claims operating procedures for improved financial results. Here’s how it works, from the first customer interaction with an insurer to a claim.

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Do banks like public clouds?

Xavier Bellouard, Managing Director, ActiveViam

In the past, banks have not been eager to adopt public clouds, with security issues topping the list of potential risks to the biggest financial institutions in the world.

However, things are now moving forward, with the European Banking Authority issuing guidelines on how to outsource and supervise public cloud environments effectively.

At ActiveViam, we wanted to know how interested banks now were in public clouds, commissioning a report titled “Are Banks Really Ready for Cloud?”.Within this report, we explore four key areas:

Budgets and the number of public cloud projects going on
The sticking points preventing public cloud migrations – what is the main obstacle?
Which use cases should be moved to public clouds
If jobs are at risk as a result of public clouds

In speaking to some of the world’s biggest banks and their consultants about these topics, we now know the state of play for public clouds in banks.

Here are some findings.

Public cloud budgets are on the rise

Banks are indeed ramping up their use of public clouds in 2018. Interestingly, budgets are increasing by up to 70% in the next two years to cope with the initial spin-up fees. Up until now, many banks have not catered for public cloud usage within IT budgets, meaning the demand is initially high for hardware rental,…

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A Conversation with London’s FinTech Innovators in The Business Space: Soldo Speaks with Starling Bank on Revolutionising The Financial Ecosystem in Businesses

Soldo, the London-based FinTech solving the challenge of automating, delegating and controlling company spending, earlier this year announced an integration with Starling Bank, the digital-only challenger bank. The integration brought significant advantages to business users who are now able to automate sending company money and receiving payments. The partnership created an opportunity for businesses to save significant revenue by enabling them to invest more time in productive activities and less time managing invoices.

The duo shared a conversation dissecting the future of financial management within the workplace. With both disrupting the traditional banking system and addressing the flaws of antiquated financial services, Soldo and Starling discuss how businesses can take advantage of the surge in technology behind finance whilst advising on the biggest challenges businesses may face when adopting fintech solutions.

The profile of Fintech solutions to date has been much higher in the consumer market as opposed to the business market. What do you think is driving this, and how can Fintech providers make sure that businesses don’t miss out on the technology revolution?

Julian Sawyer, COO, Starling Bank: Technology innovation across many industries has been consumer led, with more product hype and buzz, and subsequently more opportunity for the network effect. More companies like Soldo and Starling Bank are now providing the innovation often only associated with consumers to the business market.

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While Italy’s short-term economic outlook includes some positive elements, material downside risks loom amid high policy uncertainty. In her latest Ahead of the Curve, Silvia Dall’Angelo, Senior Economist at Hermes Investment Management, argues the Italian situation is a symptom of deep-rooted malaise and requires a credible and concerted response.

Italy’s recent political imbroglio reignited the debate over the European Union’s (EU) future and the viability of the European single currency within its current institutional framework.

While the situation has normalised, the landscape in Italy remains fragile. It is emblematic of the challenges the Eurozone is facing in a new political era. This new political backdrop emphasises national sovereignty, has an inward-looking approach and favours centrifugal forces, posing hurdles to European integration.

Effects of the crisis

Italy’s double-dip recession – the global financial crisis in 2008, followed by the European Sovereign Debt Crisis in 2012/13 – was particularly severe, as the country was ill-equipped to deal with it in the first place. The typically short-lived political cycle – with 65 administrations at the helm since World War II – has favoured wasteful public spending and quick fixes, rather than long-sighted structural reforms. In this context, public debt grew quickly, thereby reducing the fiscal space available at times of crisis.

Today, Italy is still feeling the effects of the double-dip: Italian real GDP is 5% below the levels that prevailed before the 2008 crisis (see chart). The unemployment rate has declined, but at 11%, it is still high. Additionally, youth unemployment is elevated at about 30%.

Since the double-dip recession, real GDP has recovered in major Eurozone countries, with the exception of Italy

Short-term positives and challenges

The short-term economic outlook includes some positive elements, but material downside risks loom amid high policy uncertainty, both domestically and externally.

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Cash automation technology helps retailers protect cash and staff

New study on cash automation presents in-depth insights from retailers in 13 countries on technology which counts, validates and stores banknotes, and which is capable of fully automating cash management in stores

Security considerations drive retailers to invest in automation of cash processing

Retail Cash Automation 2018, a brand new study by strategic research and consulting firm RBR, reveals that retailers consider security of both cash and staff to be the strongest drivers for investing in new cash technology. Most retail cash automation devices are designed to handle cash in retailers’ back/front offices, although some are point of sale (POS) units located at individual checkouts.

The report, which is the first international study into this growing market, shows that retailers in countries which have strong cash usage as well as general concerns around security are likely to gain the most from retail cash automation. Security issues are considered paramount in countries such as the USA, Brazil and South Africa.

The greater security provided to staff by use of the technology can be beneficial for the morale of a workforce, as well as help with recruitment and a retailer’s public image.In countries with sparsely populated geographical areas, such as Australia, security is particularly significant for retailers which have a number of isolated outlets, such as those in the convenience with fuel sector.

Selected Drivers of Retail Cash Automation

Source: Retail Cash Automation 2018 (RBR)