Many in the VC community proclaim that FinTech enabled marketplaces will unlock the largest commercial opportunities in the future. While it is too easy to fantasize about how FinTech and InsurTech startups are causing a r-evolution in the financial sector, marketplaces and platforms have struggled to find insurance products that are able to match the expectations of consumers.
Our research reveals that only 6% of the world’s largest insurance companies have invested in developer portals. This highlights a common strategy of deploying point to point integration to address specific needs with new solutions.
Platform interoperability and open protocol support is better for the ecosystem of consumers and business. And as more smart devices join the ecosystem, and businesses reorganize themselves around a real time economy, the need for complex real time infrastructures is intensified.
E-commerce platforms, and one such example is Shopify, are missing on monetization opportunities in integrating insurance solutions into their customer journeys and this notion is reinforced by our research as the infographic below shows.
Notwithstanding, the pioneers are setting high standards in product solutions and API capabilities, optimizing distribution infrastructures and lowering costs through self-service while increasing differentiation through value adding services and new points of contact.