Fintech Futures: Welcome to the future

The next step for FinTech Futures is to develop a steering group and drive digital innovation at grassroots level and across the whole insurance sector with the intention of making it front of mind for Insurance Age readers. 

Campaign partner, Worry + Peace founder and innovator-at-large James York explains why the sector needs to support FinTech Futures

"Insurance products don't rot. They don't take up space. They don't need bins, lorries or robots. They need capacity, people and contracts. The binding agent? Technology - it's our greatest advantage.

We need to use technology to encourage sector growth and put these three raw materials to good use.

Only the nimble

But it's easier said than done - the sector's budgets are usually allocated well in advance - many are piled high with IT-projects already this year. I wonder what proportion of resource is ad hoc, left for the nimble, opportunistic ideas?

For a start-up or younger broker this poses great barriers. To get new products out there, you need the relationships and the terms of business arrangement - then the detail. The longer it takes the more it costs, there's a tooling requirement for new designs and the costs should be going down but they're not.

Providers can also be too prescriptive. Imagine trying your hand at setting up a new coffee shop only to be told by the coffee exporters: "Use all Starbucks' or Costa interior design gear, or no coffee until 2016." Not good for differentiation.

If the tooling costs are really so high, why no broad-fixes? In an era of bank feeds, cloud and specialist software there are few services tailored to the insurance industry.

Compliance, reporting, agency management - these should all be easier, even automated. I am also hoping the government assigns some user-experience boffins to the FCA cause.

Tooling costs have a domino effect. Because if we can't get the products we want how we want, use the time we have flexibly, we can't make our own preferred consumer experience and we can't treat customers fairly, dammit. That is our sole purpose.

I'm all for using what's there, but if it isn't a broker building genuine value, it's temporary and obeys only its own master.

Finding help

Who is helping you acquire these tools? I recently read a story touting a new expensive quote and buy system. Sadly, the site itself lacked some basic mobile-responsive functionality. I felt bad for that agent - they obviously have the appetite to go digital - but the site wasn't up to scratch. Brand damage by the pound?

A tech-procurement playbook should be out there and accessible. That's why I am delighted to be involved in FinTech Futures - now there's a platform to help make things happen.

Instead of standing in front of a crumbling dam with a bucket of plaster, we should make faster solutions and harness the diversity of opportunities available right now."