SINGAPORE, 17 January 2018 – NTUC Income (“Income”) claimed its lead as a digital health insurer in Singapore as the company becomes the first to offer Integrated Shield Plan (IP) digitally today via the online portal, healthinsurance.income.com.sg. This marks a milestone in Income’s transformation to become a leading digital insurer in Singapore as it moves to digitise its business and strives to offer customers choice, 24/7 accessibility to insurance and a seamless consumer journey in today’s highly agile business landscape.

New online portal offers a seamless user experience and safeguards customers’ interests
         
Prior to healthinsurance.income.com.sg, much of the fact-finding, decision-making and purchasing of IP can only be made offline. Those interested in taking out an IP can obtain a quote online but will still require an insurance advisor to follow up with them based on the initial information submitted to complete the purchase.

With the new digital proposition, heightened accessibility, convenience and speed will define a new standard in which IP can be purchased, claimed and managed at anytime and anywhere.

Most significantly, new customers with no pre-existing health conditions will enjoy instant approval and coverage within five-to-10 minute of the application. Claiming a pre and post-hospitalisation bill can also be completed in seconds by submitting a photo of the bill to the online portal, eliminating the hassle of paper submissions.

To help customers understand the benefit of a private health insurance plan and to make informed decisions about purchasing an IP, the online portal , which is open to Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents below 61 years old, offers scenario-based illustrations, as well as, easy-to-understand explainers on common health insurance terms such as ‘rider’, ‘as charged’ and ‘deductible’.

Another value-added feature is its Google-like search function, the Coverage Checker, which allows policyholders to assess a suitable hospital ward type and obtain an estimation of their bill size by selecting from about 80 common medical treatments based on Income’s claims records. While this feature offers coverage clarity in a jiffy, customers can also engage with a chatbot directly on the online portal for general queries, or questions on upgrading or downgrading their existing IncomeShield plans or riders, from March.

Mr Peter Tay, Income’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “The new digital proposition plays to the way customers access, engage and use information digitally these days. They are accustomed to quick gratifications from online transactions that are often supported by a seamless user experience. In this regard, we aim to live-up to such an expectation and have designed our customer journey on the new online portal based on feedback from consumers. We see value in setting a new standard for customers - old and new - to learn about, engage with and enjoy a positive experience with IP as it is such an essential scheme to safeguard the long-term medical and hospitalisation needs of Singaporeans at large.”

To ensure that customers do not run the risk of over-riding their in-force IP plans, the online portal  safeguards customers by embarking on a mandatory check at the start of the customer journey and decline those who currently enjoy IP protection. Customers are also offered an extended free-look period of 90 days compared to the usual 21 days to give them additional peace of mind.

New online portal strengthens Income’s position as a leading digital insurer and is in step with the national push to accelerate digitisation in Singapore

Income’s move to offer its IP digitally follows closely its announcement last year that the company is embedding cognitive technologies operationally by adopting IBM’s Watson Explorer to automate and improve its pre- and post-hospitalisation claims process. The cognitive technology is aimed at empowering claims assessors to be deployed strategically in areas that commensurate with their specialised skill-set, as well as, to raise customer-service level while enhancing employee productivity and satisfaction.

These initiatives complement Singapore’s drive to become a Smart Nation through the use of technology to solve problems and address challenges, as well as, the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Healthcare 2020 Masterplan to improve access, affordability and quality of healthcare services for Singaporeans.

In the last two years, Income broke new ground with several digital innovations aimed at enhancing our customers’ experience with insurance. In motor insurance, Income launched two schemes – Drive Master and FlexiMileage - that leverage telematics technology and real-time data to allow drivers to influence the motor insurance premiums they pay based on their driving behaviours. The mobile application, Accident Reporting by Income, also sets new industry standard by empowering Income motor policyholders to file an accident report remotely. For travel insurance, Income introduced the industry’s first travel insurance chatbot, ‘Jiffy Jane’, on Facebook Messenger, which enables policy purchase and instant support to travellers’ enquiries on travel insurance. Income also piloted the insurance industry’s first tele-health programme, Orange Care, to support the recovery and overall health improvement of IncomeShield policyholders who were hospitalised due to a heart condition in the comforts of their homes by empowering these patients to better understand and manage their conditions in a cost-effective manner.

Mr Tay, who also heads Income’s Digital Transformation Office, added, “At Income, we recognise technology to be a core enabler in transforming insurance and we are committed to identify, tap and build on these enablers to digitise our business while we explore new opportunities concurrently. In this regard, we are anchored on customer-centricity. By this, we mean to leverage technology to enhance customers’ accessibility to insurance, make available more customised choices, while at the same time, improve and ensure that they have a positive customer journey with us. We also invest in our distribution channel by empowering our stable of experienced financial advisers with technology so that they continue to create more value for our customers as we transform our business digitally. We recognise that our customers want choice and this means, the flexibility of engaging with us digitally and interacting with an advisor face-to-face when the need arises.”