PNB MetLife Insurance focuses on 3Ds – Data, Digitize and Disrupt
In the insurance industry, customer data is a precious resource that is both avidly protected and used to improve business. In response to increasing consumer demand to access information and services anytime, anywhere, PNB MetLife Insurance Co has taken several steps. Samrat Das, Chief Operating Officer, says: “Our focus has been on 3Ds – Data, Digitize and Disrupt. We use data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to assess the profiles of the customers and their financial behaviors, which helps us to improve our persistency ratios, reduce policy surrenders and manage underwriting for mortality experience. We have taken steps to digitize our end-to-end sales process so customers can seamlessly explore their needs, get advice, and apply and purchase coverage online and 24×7 through mobile channels.”
HIKE IN APP DOWNLOADS
PNB MetLife has an AI based customer service application, khUshi, which is a virtual assistant that can chat with an existing or prospective customer and help respond to product and policy related queries in real-time. Das says the 24×7 chatbot is a proactive and predictive application that aims to quickly address customers’ requirements in order to provide customized responses to their queries. The company, he says, has been encouraging its customers to raise service requests through KhUshi. “Between February and March this year, we witnessed a 14% hike in app downloads. Now that the nation-wide lockdown has been lifted, we are still seeing strong demand, with a 33% increase in the daily transaction average. We used push notifications to create awareness of the app amongst customers, which resulted in high response rate,” says he.
Reducing TAT
Technology has always been a focal point at the company while offering a better customer experience. Robust technology infrastructure has enabled continued customer engagement during the covid pandemic and Das explains that along with enhancing efficiencies and reducing turn-around-times, technology is now playing a vital role in supporting customers and connecting associates during this time of crisis. “We’ve also leveraged social media and other online channels to build awareness around our digital servicing capabilities like online premium payments and simplified claims processes,” he adds.
The company has also regularly engaged with its customers via SMS and emails informing them about its toll-free number and dedicated email address so that they have access to seamless customer service. “The technology support extended to our call center teams enabled us to ensure continuity of customer services during the lockdown period. As a result, our call abandon rates reduced from 2.5% to 1.8% during these tough times,” says Das.
Online Claims Process
PNB MetLife has ensured continued customer engagement during the pandemic, using multiple assets to create awareness around ease of servicing through digital modes, premium payments and simplified claims processes. The company saw a robust online buying journey for its term product and for April to date it has seen a surge of 54% logins for the online business. It has implemented tele-medical limits for investment and savings plans with selection criteria and set up a dedicated claims helpline and email address for customers to send their documents via email and claims will be processed basis on these documents. Post email, the customers will need to courier their original document after the lockdown is lifted. All claims are being paid by direct bank transfer.
ePathshala For Employees
The company’s employees were advised to work from home and it allocated dedicated IT team members for various departments so that employees could quickly resolve any issues. Says Das: “We offered seamless access to our internal systems via VPN connection meaning employees could stay connected using mobile hotspots or their home Wi-Fi. We have transitioned all our training programs online to ‘ePathshala’ – our mobile learning platform. We have conducted 1674 virtual training programs with over 24,000 employees attending multiple training sessions on various topics ranging from product training, process training, induction, etc.”
Solutions In Pipeline
PNB MetLife will continue to use multiple online assets to create awareness about its simplified digital servicing capabilities like online premium payments and claims settlement. Das says the company is enhancing its digital sales platform with added features like digital endorsements for customers and intermediaries to offer a complete online journey. As another value-added feature to augment remote engagements, it exploring a co-browsing facility, which will enable the customers and the agents to be on same virtual page during a policy purchase journey. “While bringing in these innovative offerings, we have also ensured PII (Personally Identifiable Information) data protection for our customers,” adds Das.
