Embedded insurance creates the opportunity to grab a customer’s attention at a crucial moment: The moment the customer needs coverage for a related purchase or event. Customers buying a car, for example, can purchase insurance coverage for the vehicle in the same moment, venue or transaction.

Embedded insurance offers greater convenience for customers and a new mode of communication for insurers, agents and brokers. As the location of customers’ transactions is so often virtual, however, the next frontier of embedded insurance will be virtual as well.

How Digital Destinations and Apps Support Embedded Insurance

Apps became a household word in 2009, when Apple launched its “there’s an app for that” campaign in support of its 2008-launched App Store. Digital destinations, while a more recent development, share some features with apps, especially from the point of view of insurers seeking to make connections through embedded insurance offerings.

Apps are dedicated software connecting a user to a company, service or product. Today, many businesses use apps to build stronger connections with customers and to facilitate business. The rise of apps led to a corresponding rise in businesses that operate chiefly or solely online, making the app the key virtual location for connections between customers and that business.

The option to purchase embedded insurance can be integrated into the app itself, making insurance part of the overall customer experience while in the virtual location of the app. To the customer, insurance becomes part of the buying experience, instead of a second step or additional chore.

Digital destinations take the virtual-location aspect of apps one step further. A digital destination is a virtual environment that can be accessed via a desktop computer or a mobile browser. “They are for interaction, exploration, learning and collaboration,” writes Josh Baum at visual communications agency Vismedia.

Because digital destinations provide a more immersive experience than apps, with new dimensions for communication and exploration, they offer new opportunities for companies seeking to connect to customers. One opportunity is the ability to make embedded insurance readily available for visitors, included as part of the environment.

How to Become an Early Adopter

As with any new technology, connecting insurance offerings to already-existing apps and digital destinations also requires digital tools. Tools like bolt Exchange Amplify help non-insurance businesses make the connection with insurers, agents and brokers, entering app and digital destination environments to connect to customers.

Customer-centric businesses often embrace embedded insurance because it provides a way to improve service and add value for customers, which in turn builds customer loyalty. By using bolt Exchange Amplify, insurers can cross sell insurance products in a way that complements the work other businesses are already doing.

The bolt Exchange Amplify tool also provides strong customer support, allowing customers to shop for the best coverage and to talk to a licensed agent if they need help. The result is a better customer experience in the virtual realm, along with an ability to reach customers when they need coverage, address their specific needs and build customer loyalty.

The pandemic has pushed many transactions online at a rapid pace. Today, customers carry out a wide range of transactions online, including the purchase of cars and other personal and business property. As the location of these transactions becomes increasingly virtual, virtual locations like digital destinations and apps will become the place to carry out related insurance purchases.

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