Mobile Device Initiatives Are on the Move in the Life Insurance Sector

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New LIMRA research finds significant growth in mobile initiatives for life insurers since 2011. Across all three stakeholders (consumer, financial professional and policyowner) mobile initiatives at least doubled in the past five years (chart).

There are many factors pushing life insurers towards adopting mobile capabilities. The three top reasons for mobile initiatives are:

Keep pace with competitors – 84%
Keep pace with consumer demand – 80%
Provide better service to policy owners – 78%

The greatest opportunity for growth in the mobile capabilities area is with policyowners. Ideally, a policyowner should be able to complete simple service transaction via mobile device without agent involvement. LIMRA’s survey finds 8 in 10 companies that offer mobile access for policyowners offer them the ability to view policy information via mobile device. However, only 19 percent offer ability to purchase additional products/coverage via mobile device, and just 10 percent offer ability to chat with customer service via mobile device. While relatively few policyowners may use these services now, prior LIMRA research shows that some consumers say that they would not do business with an insurer that does not offer mobile access options.

LIMRA’s study found two in three companies report at least some success with their mobile initiatives for policy owners, usually measured by the number of times the mobile site is accessed or by policyowner feedback. Mobile access for policyowners is advancing more slowly than access for consumers and financial professionals but given the likely increase in demand, most companies surveyed plan expand their offerings to policy owners soon.

These results were based off of an electronic survey sent to North American companies in September and October of 2016. Forty-four companies in the U.S. and eight companies in Canada participated. To learn more about mobile initiatives, LIMRA members can read, Migrating to Mobile: Mobile Access for Life Insurance Stakeholders – 2016.