5 Insurtech Questions for 2019

Smart Harbor, an Internet marketing service in Columbus, Ohio, has pointed out in its 2019 insurance agency trends forecast that Google adopted a “mobile-first” website indexing strategy in March 2018,

That means that, when the Google system decides which sites to show where, and when, the system will focus mainly on the mobile version of the content.

“Although desktops historically led the way for consumers to research and find products and services that met their needs, it is more critical than ever that agents have mobile responsive sites, in order to not only grow but also maintain the highly coveted search engine real estate that they have worked for years to establish,” Smart Harbor says.

4. Can that agency’s contact center text?

Many consumers use their mobile phones more to surf the web and text than to make traditional telephone calls. and that could also make a subtle, but important, change in how the world of insurance works.

“Texting is a critical line of communication with Millennials,” Smart Harbor says.

Texting “will be the preferred method of contact for the next generation of insurance customers,” Smart Harbor predicts.

5. How’s data security going?

Analysts at Deloitte note in their firm’s 2019 outlook that cybersecurity problems are getting serious enough to slow insurers’ efforts to move functions onto “the cloud.”

“Cybersecurity seems to be an area of concern for many with cloud, because core systems and critical data are essentially being moved off-site to a third party,” the analysts write. “Insurers should keep in mind that while it may be true that providers are accountable for the security of their cloud’s hardware and software, applying security policies to cloud functions ultimately remains an insurer’s responsibility.”

— Read LIMRA Aims to Surf the Tech Wave, on ThinkAdvisor.

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