INTERVIEW Great Eastern builds 5 digital ecosystems to reach Indonesia’s uninsured

This effort succeeded in optimising their financial performance with a net profit of US$2.04m (IDR 31b).

Great Eastern Life Indonesia is touting five comprehensive digital ecosystems that it hopes will make insurance more accessible to the Indonesian population. “One of the steps we are taking is to utilise technology so that customers can have additional options to connect with us digitally,” President Director Clement Lien Cheong Kiat told Insurance Asia.

Over 90% of individuals in Indonesia remain uninsured, according to Great Eastern, making the market an untapped resource that the company is keen to onboard.

To attract customers, Great Eastern said that it created a comprehensive digitisation process, from customer onboarding to after sales service. This is in line with Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) call to prioritise easy access for the public to obtain insurance products and services with the principles of customer centricity, customer protection, and digital experience.

Five digital ecosystems

First making its steps in digital transformation five years ago, Great Eastern has since built five digital ecosystems. The first, called the GoGREAT! Services Customer Portal, is an individual insurance portal that enables customers to make Fund Switches (for customers with unit-linked policies), view policy information and insurance benefits, view personal information, change the frequency of premium payments, change premium payment methods, download transaction reports, e-policies, as well as e-endorsements.

Second is the GoGREAT! Sales Website, which is the insurer’s portal for purchasing insurance online.

There is also the Great Eastern Corporate-ID (GEC-ID) application for group insurance customers. "Through this application, customers can view benefit details, claim history, submit e-claims, consult online doctors, and make appointments with doctors," said Cheong Kiat.

Fourth is the HR/Broker Portal for group insurance customers. This is where corporate and HR clients of the insurer can manage dashboards, view insurance benefit details, view participant information, add and/or remove participants, and manage premium bills and excess claims.

The final ecosystem, named Great Advice, is a mobile point-of-sales for Great Eastern Life Indonesia’s marketing staff and financial advisors. Through Great Advice, financial advisors can input life insurance requests online, making it more convenient for them to onboard new customers in the ecosystem.

“We have provided various easiness for customers to connect with us. Customers can access their policies on the Customer Portal in just 3 easy steps: enter their KTP/ Passport number, enter the Policy Holder's Date of Birth, and enter the One Time Password (OTP) sent to the customer's mobile number," said Cheong Kiat.

Cheong Kiat added that through these five portals, customers can avoid the risk of losing transaction submission documents.

Closing inclusion-literacy gap

Great Eastern Life Insurance, however, had also recognized that just touting the easiness of their five ecosystems is not enough.

Indonesia’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Survey (SNLIK) in 2022 found that there remains a large gap between the financial literacy index (49.68%) and the financial inclusion (85.10%). This meant that out of every 100 Indonesians, there are 85 people who now use financial products and services—but only 49 correctly understand what the products and services are.

Therefore, apart from creating easy access for customers, Great Eastern Life Indonesia also educates the public through various financial literacy class programs to help customers understand financial planning.

Great Eastern Life Indonesia has also unveiled a program to help customers understand which insurance products better suits their needs and financial goals.

Each product is designed according to different needs. The main key is identifying the right product so that customers can meet their needs,"Cheong Kiat stated.

He believes that Great Eastern’s five ecosystems and financial inclusion drive will bring more positive impact on business growth, since the digital transformation can be correctly understood and accessed by public.

“When we identify something that we can improve through digital solutions, we will actively develop it to ensure our customer experience remains good,” Cheong Kiat concluded.