Financial Services Providers operating in niche segments significantly reduce competition, as consumers generally opt for those who don’t try to be all things to all people. April 2019 saw FSPs tailoring products for art buyers, dog-owners, healthcare professionals, holiday-home renters and Muslim investors, among others.
(Photo by Stephen Kraakmo on Unsplash. Thank you!)
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RIS Title Insurance Corporation, the underwriter and insurer of title insurance for collectibles and art, has introduced a new service for title risk assessment of artworks for potential buyers called Know Your Title. This product was introduced as a result of the company seeing a flood of pre-sales inquiries, as buyers and/or future sellers want to mitigate potential risks beforehand. ARIS researchers now look into litigation associated with sellers, questions of ownership, possible instances of theft in an artwork’s history and other risks. Therefore, ARIS wants potential future sellers to know exactly what they’re getting themselves into, before they purchase artwork.
http://www.artnews.com/2019/04/08/aris-art-insurer-know-your-title/
Financial Services Providers operating in niche segments significantly reduce competition, as consumers generally opt for those who don’t try to be all things to all people. April 2019 saw FSPs tailoring products for art buyers, dog-owners, healthcare professionals, holiday-home renters and Muslim investors, among others.
(Photo by Stephen Kraakmo on Unsplash. Thank you!)
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Dramatic changes in technology, consumer demands and regulations are redefining the financial services sector. Increasing access to affordable and more powerful devices is driving convenience to a new level, giving rise to trends such as Contextual Commerce. These changes are forcing incumbents and challengers to partner and innovate as never before. Besides focusing on partnerships, financial services firms are leveraging on new technologies, to respond effectively to emerging opportunities and consumer demands.
(Photo by Stephen Kraakmo on Unsplash. Thank you!)
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The financial services sector in South Africa doesn’t have many examples of Behavioural Finance or Economics, though more companies are taking this approach each month. As we anticipate the public launch of Discovery Bank this month, the Discovery Vitality model is probably the best-known example of Behaviour Economics in the country. The 20-year old rewards programme has an established track record with Vitality members generating roughly 30% lower hospitalisation costs and living from 13-21 years longer than the rest of the insured population[1]. Even the pundits are saying it’s got the best chance of success, out of all the new banking entrants.
Two other insurers have made known – or felt, in the case of one of them – their intentions to also enter the banking space. Each of them is certain to bring their rewards programmes into their business models as well, to improve consumers’ financial behaviour and make this stick. Momentum is expected to position its Multiply Money benefit as a fully digital savings and transactional offering. The benefit is offered through its wellness programme, running since at least 2013. Multiply Money already offers consumers assistance and rewards for good financial behaviour, such as completing one’s financial wellness status in a formal assessment, checking in with an accredited advisor and tracking spend through the mobile app.
While Old Mutual has reserved comment on whether or not it will apply for its own banking licence, it would seem logical that it would, given its integrated financial services model. Old Mutual launched its own rewards programme in mid-July 2018, linking this directly to ‘good financial behaviour’. Old Mutual has been already running a low-cost transactional Money Account since August 2015 through Bidvest. The company knows the South African banking market very well from its Nedbank shareholding and it owns Zimbabwe’s second-largest bank, Cabs. It stands to reason that this well-resourced group could bring some serious competition to the market.
With the degree of disruption that is expected in 2019 – new banks and insurtechs on the rise – there’s never been a more pressing time for financial services companies to monitor competitor strategies and behaviour, in order to remain relevant.
Harvard Business Review, June 23, 2017: “Can Insurance Companies Incentivize Their Customers to Be Healthier?”
