INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT
New challengers in the market Bringing AXA ’ s services and products closer to the customer is the driving force behind the company wide transformation , but there are both internal and external factors that brought upon change – namely , new entrants .
“ The rise of new entrants in insurance space has applied pressure where we ’ ve recognised that there are more and more smaller companies now starting to come into the space . I think in the past there were very big barriers for entrants ,” says De Villiers .
“ What ’ s been happening is with the rise of technology companies on the internet , specifically about Fintech , those barriers are much lower . They may not require as much capital ; they can more rapidly get a very big distribution footprint . So the only thing they really need is an understanding of insurance products and risk . Those companies come with a better understanding of what customers want and how to have a good customer experience .”
With an easier pathway into the market for new entrants , how does a company like AXA stay ahead of the game to remain the number one insurance brand worldwide ?
“ As a company , every year we identify the priorities and things we ’ d like to do for our customers and our distributors . There were already a number of initiatives that we had launched that had something to do with customer centricity , digitisation and simplifying our products ,” says De Villiers .
“ I think the digital transformation is really the coherent umbrella , that ties all of the initiatives together with specific outcomes and specific timeframes .”
A culture of change Undergoing a digital transformation process brings with it certain challenges and changing the ways of working throughout the whole company is no easy process .
“ Internally , cultural change is very important ,” explains De Villiers . “ We ’ ve got a lot of people
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