Cambodia’s developing InsurTech industry on show at the CamTech Summit Powered by Prudential 2022

The FinTech stage of the Cambodia Tech Expo was organized by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Digital Economy and Business Committee, Techo Start-up Center, and the Cambodian Association of Finance & Technology (CAFT) at the Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Center in Phnom Penh from November 11 – 13.

The FinTech stage was held at the same time as the inaugural Cambodia Tech Expo (CTX) with the annual CamTech Summit Powered by Prudential hosted by CAFT to make the event even greater.

Delivering his collaborative remarks at the event, Sanjay Chakrabarty, CEO of Prudential Cambodia, said that Prudential has committed to contributing to the growth of digitalisation in Cambodia through various innovative initiatives, public-private collaborations, and supporting education to groom future talent for Cambodia.

“This ongoing support showcases our vision and belief that combining new technology with traditional knowledge in the delivery of financial services is of paramount importance to offer the best products and services to our customers and the community,” Sanjay said. “To achieve this vision, we at Prudential Cambodia have been collaborating with many like-minded stakeholders – many of which are present at the event – to ensure this developing technology is properly implemented with best practices and processes for the customer,” he added.

Increasing distribution channels for insurance products

Dr. Sovathana Hor, Deputy Director General of the Insurance Regulator of Cambodia said that “before Covid-19 pandemic, the insurance regulator has performed its operation in the traditional way and has yet focusing on any InsurTech development policies. However, after experiencing the disruption during the pandemic, the IRC saw the needs for the adoption of technology to maintain the growth of the insurance industry in a sustainable way. The fast adoption of digital financial technology by the Cambodian people had paved the way for the simple insurance products and services that are ready to be sold via digital platform. In 2021, with the new regulation on bancassurance in place, this allow more distribution channels for the insurance products to be distributed via banks and MFIs. In this regard, the insurance companies can also leverage the existing FinTech capabilities of banks and MFIs as well.”

Mr. Huy Vatharo, Chairman of the Insurance Association of Cambodia said that technology plays a very important role in the value chain of insurance starting from product development through to claim management.

“The Cambodian Insurance Association believes that there will always be a place for traditional insurance products and service however we understand the need for our members to especially increase digital channels to the public for example Prudential’s Insurance Selling Machines recently introduced to the local market,” Mr. Huy Vatharo said. He added, that trust was core to the insurance industry and that technology could also play an important role in ensuring claims are properly paid in a fast and efficient manner.

InsurTech is most likely to help those in poor and rural communities

Prudential’s Chief Health Officer Andrew Wong highlighted insurance technology (InsurTech) was being used to make healthcare more affordable and accessible by leveraging digital technologies and best-in-class principles.

According to the company’s latest ‘Health of Asia Barometer’ survey, 80 per cent of people believe that technology has already improved their access to health services and 60 per cent say that technology has reduced the cost of their health care.

Meanwhile, 70 per cent of the same respondents said they will rely on more technology in the near future to improve their health and wellbeing.

“Utilizing emerging technology, we believe will be a key component in in delivering seamless customer experiences across Asia including Cambodia. We are using our Pulse ecosystem to support this throughout the region,” Andrew said.

“While Cambodia has substantially improved its healthcare status since 1993 but is facing dual challenges of communicable and growing non-communicable diseases similar to other neighboring countries. In Asia, we have seen how technology has been effectively improving access to healthcare for remote and rural communities at scale,” he added.

Trust is at the core of Web3.0’s impact on the insurance sector

Andy Chun, Regional Director – Technology Innovation, Prudential delivered his keynote on the emerging Web3.0 development, stating it will also move the customer journey for healthcare and insurance along, adding trust will be at its core.

“Looking to the future with Web3.0 for financial services and insurance real-world use cases, Prudential will be conducting marketing campaigns through the metaverse, loyalty programs through NFTs, and streamlining multi-purpose transactions with blockchain information sharing,” Chun said.

“Web3.0 may also be used to reach out to the underserved populations of Cambodia and the region more broadly by with existing direct ledger technology, such as the National Bank of Cambodia’s Bakong mobile application.

Andy Chun added that Prudential has already started using Web3.0 technology, such as its pioneering Insurance Selling Machine, to make insurance purchases more convenient for customers. With its purpose to help people get the most out of life, Prudential leverages its digitally enabled multi-channel distribution platform to make healthcare affordable and accessible and promote financial inclusion.

Prudential believes that fully embracing InsurTech products and services will be of strategic priority to grow Cambodia’s insurance sector in accordance with the government’s Strategic Development Plan for Insurance Sector 2021-2030. The Plan outlines its goal of achieving a 5.5% insurance penetration rate with $135 for insurance density in the year 2030.