Allianz launched its Asia Lab in Singapore, a first for the global financial services group in the region. The lab seeks to harness digital innovation and advanced analytics to deliver intuitive solutions for the group’s 18 million customers in the region.
Established with the support of the MAS, the lab showcases Allianz’s global strengths in digital strategy and commercial access, while leveraging Singapore’s business infrastructure and ecosystem to create best-in-class experiences for Asian customers. It will also serve as a link to the well-established networks of innovation and data-science teams Allianz operates worldwide, localising future-ready digital propositions for regional markets.
Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said the insurance industry is a big focus and sees a lot of opportunities that can be tapped. He shared that Singapore’s aspirations and focus on FinTech are around four core pillars: how to improve productivity, how to improve efficiency, how to improve people’s lives, and how to provide a secure system as digital becomes increasingly important.
The Asia Lab, with a starting team of 10 technology specialists and data scientists, will focus on developing innovative customer propositions in the areas of connected healthcare, mobility and smart city-living. It will work closely with Asian startups, enterprises and institutions to share insights and expertise, as well as incubate and develop market concepts and prototypes.
Mr George Sartorel, Regional CEO, Allianz Asia-Pacific, said: “Asia is really leap-frogging technology and Asian consumers are adapting to technology and digital offers very fast. We strongly believe that we have every chance of building a new digital insurance model right here in Asia.”
Reaffirm Singapore’s position as a leading insurance market
While there have been various innovation labs launched by insurers, Mr Sartorel, said: “What we are doing with this lab is something that is a little different. The Asia Lab here is actually part of our business. It is not sitting somewhere else in a dark room, trying to figure out how the future is going to look like. We don’t believe that is really how you understand how the model will change.” The team sits within the group’s regional headquarters in Singapore – an integrated approach to foster deeper collaboration with business teams and drive seamless adoption of next-generation ideas.
Mr Leong Sing Chiong, Assistant Managing Director, MAS, said, “The Asia Lab will directly contribute to MAS’ strategy to pursue innovation-led growth, and reaffirm Singapore’s position as a leading insurance market. Allianz’s initiative will help to provide cutting-edge insurance solutions for Asian consumers, and deepen Singapore’s innovation ecosystem. We look forward to continued collaboration with Allianz, and to supporting their digital initiatives.”
While Allianz declined to specify how much was invested to launch the lab, Mr Sartorel revealed that globally, the group invests EUR800 million a year in digital innovation.