Celent Insurance Newsletter, August 2012

30 August 2013

London, United Kingdom

From the Senior Vice President

It wasn't the first smartphone to market, but the Apple iPhone, with its iconic simple touch screen and a single button, is often credited with starting the smartphone revolution in 2007. Now, with four major operating systems and multiple devices across the world, smartphone penetration is achieving staggering levels.

Those of you familiar with Google Planet (a great resource that tracks mobile Internet usage across 48 countries) may already know that the United Arab Emirates tops the league for smartphone penetration with 73.8% (compared to the US with 56%). Countries between the UAE and the US include the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. With so many consumers in so many countries accessing the Internet through their mobile devices, it has never been so important to maintain an online mobile presence.

One of our latest reports investigates the top 100 life/annuity/health insurers in the US and researches their mobile apps targeted at agents and producers. Although producers and agents are not end consumers per se, they employ people who are consumers, and who no doubt have expectations of how financial service firms could and should engage with them. Although we have seen an improvement this year compared with the last time we ran this research in 2011, it still surprises me that ~73% have no mobile presence at all for these critical players in the value network.

There is an argument that the complexity of products and focus on personal relationships within the industry don't provide a huge scope for a compelling business case with mobile apps, which need to be simple and straightforward. However, I'm not so sure. Some of the best apps do not try to replicate the existing transactional process (which is already available through the online portal), but instead look to enrich interactions through timely insight.

I'm interested in seeing how things develop. Can we be more innovative than this?

On 2 October in San Francisco, we will be holding an innovation roundtable on Making Innovation Happen, the day before our 3 October conference What's Next: The Search for Disruptive Innovation. This roundtable event is targeted solely at senior leaders across financial services who are responsible for fostering innovation within their firms. It will be an opportunity to share ideas and concepts about what's worked and what hasn't. So, if you have been charged with making innovation happen within your firm, please get in touch. We'd be keen to hear from you and see you there.

Jamie Macgregor
Global Senior Vice President, Insurance

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