Five proposals were selected on the basis of criteria such as innovation in the respective market and the project’s relevance for the Group as a whole. These projects will receive funding of about EUR 1 million in total. A second round of pitches is scheduled for autumn 2018.
„Our ‘VIG Xelerate’ initiative is designed to support those Group companies which propose and implement innovative and tangible measures in this respect. We provide financial backing if there is a clear benefit for the Group and the relevant market, and if implementation will lead to a significant improvement in performance indicators such as premium volume, costs, market share or earnings”, said VIG CEO Elisabeth Stadler.
The winning projects from the first round of pitches were awarded to Group companies from Georgia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.
„The digital transformation is one of our key tasks when it comes to maintaining our position as a leader in the Austrian and CEE insurance industry”, said Stadler.
One of the selected projects aims to identify new digital opportunities in order to make use of new sales channels and to optimise customer service by providing a range of online services. This means that all processes – from initial contact with the customer to claims management – will be largely automated.
Two projects are focused on digital service benefits for customers. One example includes the usage of an award-winning app in health insurance that will be extended to other segments. In turn, there are also plans to introduce an app for reporting vehicle damage, equipped with online claims management.
VIG registered underwritten gross premiums of EUR146.6 million on the Romanian market in the first quarter of 2018, up 11.4% on the year. Third party liability car insurance (RCA) generated EUR55 million, voluntary car insurance (Casco) generated EUR32 million, and other types of property insurance generated EUR29 million, according to VIG’s financial report.