Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad - December 2020

Creating a Digital Roadmap for Insurance 4.0 IN ASSOCIATION WITH

PRUDENTIAL BSN TAKAFUL BERHAD

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

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Creating a Digital Roadmap for Insurance 4.0 DECEMBER 2020

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Ahmir ud Deen, COO, describes how PruBSN is taking a leadership role in modernising takaful insurance for the Malaysian industry

T

he sharp trajectory of change currently being experienced in insurance (and Takaful) makes it one of the most exciting

industries of the digital era. Already grappling with the paradigm-shifting advances of digital transformation at the start of 2020, COVID-19 shifted 103

the sector’s perspective to a dual emphasis; companies realised that technology was not merely a tool for streamlining the status quo, but rather the method by which the business could actively improve its customers’ lives and provide stability to global economies. Few companies were better poised to take a regionally leading role in this ‘new normal’ than Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad (PruBSN), the largest takaful insurance provider in Malaysia.

Founded in 2006, the company has swiftly risen to prominence. “When I first joined PruBSN in 2014, having moved from Prudential Indonesia, we had already been the Number 1 Family Takaful company within the very large Islamic Financial Market of Malaysia, since 2010.” explains Ahmir ud Deen, Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Prudential BSN DECEMBER 2020

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CYBER VILLAGE: COLLABORATORS IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION CEO Yee Bing Shieh delves into how Cyber Village’s philosophy of collaboration has affirmed its successes in enabling digital transformations Since its pioneering days as an e-commerce start up in the late 1990s, Cyber Village has grown to be a leader in digital engagement technologies enabling various customer transformation journeys for insurers and financial institutions across the ASEAN region.

Despite its incumbent leadership position today, the pioneer spirit of Cyber Village’s startup days is clearly ingrained deep into its DNA: “We are very conscious of the need to change all the time,” says CEO Yee Bing Shieh.

For Shieh, algorithms and apps are blunt instruments without a guiding human touch, and a collaborative vision. She sees these as catalysts for agility in the firm’s digital innovation processes. Most recently, this philosophy has underpinned Cyber Village’s seven-year partnership with leading Islamic insurance provider PruBSN. “PruBSN is a very positive, customer-focused organization with clear business goals,” she says. “Having said that, they are also open to experimentation in terms of new technology, as well as how we can actually come together with them to co-create new ideas.”

The latest upshot of this collaborative approach is the launch of an industry-first peer-to-peer Takaful Islamic Insurance application. Here, Cyber Village’s technology team worked closely with PruBSN’s product team, leveraging one of Cyber Village’s recent tech innovations – a cloud based P2P platform designed on a ledger architecture, complete with digital wallet capabilities.

“It’s a major social innovation in terms of how it allows the participants to join the Islamic insurance programme, pool their premiums and actually understand what it means to have a shared insurance, or mutual protection, in a peer group or community, all via an end-to-end digital experience,” Shieh explains.

“There are no physical, manual processes here; the customer journey is seamlessly delivered through a mobile app”.

Shieh talks about the initiative as part of Cyber Village’s collaborative technology-as-service platform model to work with its clients and go into technology-as-abusiness. “We look forward to such co-creations… it then lifts us beyond just doing tech or delivering tech capabilities by actually becoming a Digital Business Partner for our clients, such as PruBSN.”

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Takaful. “However, despite that, there

years as CEO of Allianz-EFU Health

is still plenty of room for us to grow.”

Insurance, before moving back to

A highly experienced executive in the

the Indonesian Market in early 2005.

APAC insurance market, Deen earned

After 13 years with Allianz, he joined

a degree in Actuarial Science from the

Prudential Indonesia as Chief Financial

London School of Economics (1988

Officer and finally took on his current

to 1991) prior to starting his insurance

role at PruBSN in 2014, Deen says that

career in Dubai. From there, he moved

he came to recognise both the chal-

to the Asia Pacific Region, with Allianz

lenges and significant potential of the

in 1997, joining their Indonesian Life

Malaysian market, especially in the

Company just a few weeks before the

area of Islamic Insurance or Takaful.

Asian Financial crisis hit the region.

“Malaysia is a fairly heavily regulated

He completed a stint with Allianz

market, but I don’t mean that in a

in his native Pakistan spending four

negative way. While we always have

DECEMBER 2020

to stay within the Islamic guidelines;

also accommodate Malaysia’s younger

the regulations are also there to look

generations with more tech-savvy,

out for the interests of customers

digitally-focused alternatives and

and manage the sustainability and

services. “We embarked on our digital

the long term viability of Insurers and

transformation journey more than

Takaful operators.”

five or six years ago,” he says. “and

Deen characterises3 the market

coincidentally just over a year ago,

within which PruBSN operates as

we moved into a new office and decided

“well-established”, but with relatively

that we would make the office entirely

lower penetration and plenty of oppor-

wifi enabled and fully digitalised3, with

tunity. Recognising that, on the whole,

flexible workstations and work areas

customers of all demographics are still

for everyone.” This development,

served predominantly through agents

it turned out, was highly perspica-

and branches, PruBSN is striving to

cious and enabled PruBSN to quickly

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Ahmir ud Deen Title: Chief Operations Officer

Industry: Insurance

A highly experienced executive in the APAC insurance market, Ud Deen earned a degree in Actuarial Science from the London School of Economics (1988 to 1991) prior to starting his insurance career in Dubai. Joining Allianz in 1997, he eventually secured a MD/CEO role at the company’s Pakistani branch in 2000. After spending four years in the role, he became a C-suite executive at PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia for over five years. Joining Prudential Indonesia as Chief Financial Officer, he came to recognise the value of the Islamic insurance market, and eventually took on his current role as the Chief Operating Officer of PruBSN in 2014. busi ne ssc hi ef . a s ia

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“ Malaysia is a fairly heavily regulated market, but I don’t mean that in a negative way” — Ahmir ud Deen, COO, Prudential BSN Takaful

mobilise for remote working when the COVID-19 pandemic began to escalate. “I would say that we hit the ground running: we were set up within a week, including a new sales process that allowed our Agents to enroll new customers digitally. This gave them the ability to continue serving prospective customers while still following the safeguards required in the market.”

However, more than that, the pandemic awakened the industry to the gaps in insurance protection and how it could improve even further.

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“Most traditional insurance and Takaful certificates used to have an exclusion for pandemic conditions.

We immediately stated that we would be removing or not applying that exclusion” — Ahmir ud Deen, COO, Prudential BSN Takaful

Following the original lockdown (or “Movement Control Order” as it was called in Malaysia), insurance and Takaful has been increasingly seen as a tool to enrich and improve the lives of customers rather than simply providing policies (‘certificates’ in Takaful terms). As such, PruBSN understood that the conditions of the coronavirus crisis provided the opportunity to demonstrate its strong ethical standards.

“Most traditional insurance coverage and Takaful certificates used to have

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an exclusion for pandemic situations and illnesses. We immediately stated that we would be removing or not applying that exclusion,” says Deen.

Furthermore, with its increased flexibility, the company was able to offer a further range of benefits to clients, including new benefit payouts for ‘confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19’ and ‘death from COVID-19’ as a free addon to their existing coverage. “The whole industry also came together and set up some funds to even cover those people that may not have been protected at all,” he continues. “I think the pandemic has changed the paradigm for all of us: it’s a new awakening DECEMBER 2020

How do you do health when we’re all different? #PulsebyPrudential CLICK TO WATCH

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112 and it’s going to have a permanent

foster a closer relationship with users

impact on the industry.”

and customers. “One very popular app

PruBSN’s digital transformation

for us, being an Islamic company is

continues to guide the direction of its

“PruBSN Insan”, which gives users daily

approach. Initial innovations included

prayer reminders, amongst other, spir-

an online, tablet-based point of sales

itual advice.” Another more recent one

system that allowed agents to meet

is ‘Pulse by Prudential’: Pulse marks

customer needs faster and more

a step change in health management

effectively, and after that, building

in Asia by making healthcare more

an omnichannel customer portal to

inclusive and accessible. By support-

facilitate the younger generations’

ing users in every step of their health

interest in being able to self-service.

and wellness journey, Prudential is

The company has also been investing

going beyond its core business of

in the development of several apps

providing protection and playing a

designed to drive engagement and

greater role in helping people prevent busi ne ssc hi ef . a s ia

PRUDENTIAL BSN TAKAFUL BERHAD

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114 and postpone the onset of diseases.

With a holistic approach in supporting the three stages in a person’s health journey – Prevent, Postpone, Protect – Pulse takes healthcare to a new level of engagement with consumers. The goal is to seamlessly integrate personal health checks and management into everyday life by providing users with mobile tools and real-time information that they can access wherever they are, round the clock.

“ I think the pandemic has changed the paradigm for all of us: it’s a new awakening and it’s going to have a permanent impact on the industry” — Ahmir ud Deen, COO, Prudential BSN Takaful

Pulse was first launched in Malaysia in August 2019 and is now available in 11 markets across Asia. Apart from busi ne ssc hi ef . a s ia

PRUDENTIAL BSN TAKAFUL BERHAD

CO MP AN Y FACT S

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In Deen’s opinion, these significant changes to the customer experience are preparing PruBSN for “insurance 4.0” - an equivalent term to ‘industry 4.0’ or the ‘fourth industrial revolution’.

The company’s journey along this tech-infused path has been assisted by its strategically chosen partners, such as AccelTree, DXC and Cyber Village, among others.

Deen provided us with further details on these relationships and the projects they’ve worked on together: AccelTree: Based in India, this software solutions provider has played a key part in PruBSN’s digital transformation. “We worked with AccelTree to build our point of sales system since 2013; this relationship has helped us to modify, speed-up and expand the whole on-boarding system for our customers.

AccelTree has and continues to be a key partner for us in building these digital journeys and facilities.”

DECEMBER 2020

Cyber Village: A leader in digital engagement technology solutions for the Malaysian market, the company is a pioneer in ecommerce and transformational infrastructure.

“Cyber Village helped us build our customer portal, back in 2016” he explains. “We’ve subsequently enhanced that further and recently also developed an innovative, Islamic ‘crowd sourcing’ app with them, that allows you to chip in money as you

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see fit for simple benefits such as for death and funeral services. It’s not just about putting money in for oneself; it’s something the wider community will be able to take advantage of, as and when they need it. And we see this as just the start of what can be offered in this very exciting way for our society.”

DXC: “DXC specialises3 in building main business systems applications for the insurance and Takaful

Industry. PruBSN and our sister company have been in the Malaysian market for over 15 years and 95 years respectively, and we have a huge database of more than three and a half million customers.

We are currently migrating this data to a new system supplied by DXC and foresee more stable and efficient systems as we move forward, together.”

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PRUDENTIAL BSN TAKAFUL BERHAD

being available in 10 local languages, the app also incorporates epidemiology. Free for download, the app has many features such as; after the completion of a medical questionnaire, a report is generated which includes a realistic 3D representation of the body, called the ‘digital twin’, as well as health advice to help one reduce disease risks and improve overall wellbeing. “We see this whole ‘ecosystem’ as becoming a central tool, not only for our customers, but also for our agents 117

to promote and share with potential customers,” says Deen. “PruBSN doesn’t want it to be a formal, boring app that you only look at if you’re sick; it has to be a fun and useful tool as well, one that helps you to manage the healthcare as well as financial needs for yourself and your family.”

“ Insurance is often considered to be a very traditional and conservative industry, but you’ll be surprised how fast-moving and modern we can be” — Ahmir ud Deen, COO, Prudential BSN Takaful DECEMBER 2020

The strength of PruBSN’s vision and its preparation for insurance and Takaful’s digital era means that it is well-prepared to meet the challenges of 2021.

“We’ve got a very clear and detailed roadmap of what we want to do, whether that’s integrating our businesses, our industry, and our companies onto shared platforms, or giving our customers the

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best and broadest experience available.

“It’s a brand new world. It’s an open

Giving people the ability to make the

world, and it’s an opportunity for eve-

most out of life is our purpose.”

ryone to take part,” Deen concludes.

Having proven itself throughout the

“Insurance is often considered to be

pandemic as a company dedicated to

a very traditional and conservative

providing peace of mind at a time when

industry, but you’ll be surprised how

customers need it the most, PruBSN

fast-moving and modern we can be.”

is eager to embrace and adapt to the industry as it changes. busi ne ssc hi ef . a s ia

LEVEL 13 MENARA PRUDENTIAL PERSIARAN TRX BARAT TUN RAZAK EXCHANGE 55188 KUALA LUMPU WWW.PRUBSN.COM.MY

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