FinTech

Insurance is on the verge of a massive overhaul. Many technologies have changed the way consumers buy and use their most valuable assets, so shouldn’t their policies change too? Drones armed with high-tech sensors, IoT and big data analysis provide vast amounts of additional information to insurers. Technologies like AI and new distribution models streamline the way customers interact with their providers.

I am sure you’ve heard of blockchain and crypto currencies. Blockchain’s all over the place and promises to disrupt the world as we know it. However, in order to do that, blockchain startups, like all other startups, need a solid PR strategy to get off the ground and make a name for themselves.  So how do you publicize a blockchain startup? 

Recently at the C/O POP convention in Cologne, Germany, a round-table featuring specialists in Blockchain and Cryptography was examining ideas to change the web to User-Centric Identities and rebuild its architecture. When Joachim Lohkamp, CEO at Jolocom, had mentioned on stage that “we should claim our digital sovereignty”, it sounded inspiring and reasonable.

An ICO is not just a new way to raise money. It’s also a new way to get customers and create network effects in business. Tokens are fantastic, and when you understand what they are capable of accomplishing, you’ll have your mind blown. When a company sells a token in a crowdsale, they get three things in return — investors, customers, and evangelizers. What else, as an entrepreneur, could you possibly want?

Ethereum isn’t just a cryptocurrency to be traded; its real value lies in its purpose. Ethereum’s purpose is to allow the owner to use the distributed world computer that several thousand nodes are powering.Ethereum is basically a huge computer! However it’s an extremely slow one — about five to 100 times slower than regular computers today — and very expensive. 

Initial Coin Offerings have become the state of the art crowd-funding /crowd-investing method for blockchain ventures. The are conducted entirely P2P on the blockchain. Funding through pre-selling coins/tokens to investors interested in supporting the project. As opposed to traditional crowdfunding where the investment is considered to be a donation or a pre buy of a product, ICOs give the supporters the possibility of a return of investment when selling their coin later at a possibly higher price. ICOs are similar to IPOs if the token represents a stake in the project.

As enterprises and society at large struggle to wield the massive amounts of data flowing off of devices, infrastructure, workflows, and users, two profound, but distinct technological developments are shaping the narrative. Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain are both poised to transform enterprise data strategies, but in very different ways.

Predictive analytics is widely accepted in marketing for customer acquisition, retention and cross-sell for good reason. Customers with more than one policy typically have a higher retention rate. Also, a policy often does not become profitable for 2-3 years due to sales acquisition costs. Predictive analytics help target the right customers and to predict those who may leave or churn.

Much of the analytics employed in the insurance industry is focused on identifying and reducing fraud; estimating and managing risk and customer retention. Reports from the insurance industry consistently highlight that the quality of customer experience remains the biggest factor driving customers to remain loyal or switch to another insurance provider. Hence, the focus should be on how to improve the quality of the customer experience rather than reducing fraud.

Ready to learn Marketing analytics? Browse courses like Blockchain for Finance Professionals developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab. I’m boarding a flight yesterday and murfing (mobile surfing).  Flicking between Facebook apps, twitter, bank account, BBC news and more.  Suddenly I spot a new ICO – Initial Coin Offering – for a new bank.

Ready to learn Blockchain? Browse courses like Blockchain for Finance Professionals developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab. This article is the fourth of five articles that discusses a new paradigm for enterprise software development. Specifically, these articles are focused on how we can design systems from the bottom up to increase our efficiency in creating