Insurance is a necessary financial safety net, but signing up for one can be frustrating.

New customer Lily lamented that she had to submit over a dozen documents for registration, such as proof of prior insurance, a signed proposal form, payment information, and the list went on.

“It’s really a hassle as everything is done in person,” Lily vented. “I had to take time off work to meet with my agent to fill in forms for various verifications which involved physically signing the forms. Why must I do t?’his during lockdowns?

“Even after submitting all the documents, it still takes days or even weeks for my application to be approved. After approval, if you want to pay the monthly premium with a credit card, you’ll need to fill in another form and submit it at a branch!”

Lily’s insurance agent Khairul is all too familiar with her frustration. “The existing system has many inefficiencies,” he explained. “Everything is done face-to-face as we need to collect documents and manually conduct due diligence to verify the identity of the customer before the application can be processed further.

“Because it takes so long, my customers often cancel their application and opt for another insurer with a faster approval and less stressful process.”

The year-long switch between lockdowns and restricted movement orders with safe distancing measures have created the need for insurance companies to serve customers with more digitally-focused alternatives for contactless service, without compromising security efficacies. Insurance companies are required to ensure that the digital verifications are secure and done properly due to stringent compliance to regulatory policies.

Recognising this gap, fintech specialist KiplePay Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary wholly owned by Green Packet Berhad, is working with insurance companies to enhance existing online application systems. With KiplePay’s digital solution - electronic Know-Your-Customer (e-KYC) and Digital Signature, insurers can now streamline customer-facing processes by removing cumbersome and labour-intensive security steps.

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The e-KYC solution is an end-to-end identity verification solution that integrates AI and smart biometrics to identify, verify, and authenticate a customer. Coupled with Digital Signature, its advanced platform enables customers to upload any document and sign it digitally. Both processes are done digitally and remotely.

“Insurance companies need a cost-efficient, paperless system and a faster, less painful process that will retain a customer during onboarding to minimise drop-offs. Compared to conventional manual authentication, e-KYC and Digital Signature enable remote mobile onboarding 24/7 with promising speed, accuracy and scalability. The AI-enabled biometrics improve every aspect of the identity verification process, ensuring that the policy applicant is genuine and creditworthy,” said Ricky Lew, acting CEO of KiplePay.

Smarter Authentication, Stronger Security

KiplePay’s e-KYC Identity Document Verification feature extracts data from identity documents and performs watermark checks to detect data and visual discrepancies. With the system’s additional security feature for machine-to-machine communication, it conducts image matching, and lastly, authenticates and assesses the customer’s liveness along multiple facial markers to prevent identity theft. The AI compares the live subject in the short-recorded video uploaded by the applicant against static samples (such as images), taking into account elements like lighting conditions, contrast resolution and other distinct aspects of the subject.

The solution is also well-adapted to detect Asian features. With support for over 3,500 ID subtypes in more than 200 countries, KiplePay’s e-KYC can enable customer verification across the globe. It can even detect changes in facial features due to weight gain or loss, ageing, hair loss or even minor plastic surgery.

After following a simple process with e-KYC, users then proceed with a 2-factor authentication process integrated within the Digital Signature platform. The authentication and signing integrity is legally compliant as stipulated in the Digital Signature Act of 1997.

“Typically, an e-KYC followed by a digital signature can be done in less than 10 minutes. Both solutions immediately alleviate typical processing pain points, prevents identity theft and fraud and directly accelerates the insurance application and approval process,” Liew concluded.
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A Convenient, Stress-free Sign-up Process
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To better illustrate the benefits of digitalisation, here’s a quick step-by-step guide of a typical insurance application process powered by KiplePay’s e-KYC:

1. Customer Sign-up

Lily, a new customer, wants to buy a new insurance plan. She creates a new customer account at the insurance company website utilising KiplePay’s e-KYC and selects the type of insurance she prefers.

2. Document Upload and Virtual Verification

Using her phone camera, Lily takes pictures of both sides of her MyKad. The KiplePay e-KYC engine automatically analyses security elements of the MyKad using AI capabilities, which include scanning distinguishing landmarks, holograms and features to authenticate her document.

3. Virtual Biometric Check

Lily also takes a video of her face and performs simple actions as prompted. The system will create a 3D facial image of the individual and match it against the MyKad picture to verify that it is the same person.

4. Risk Rating Cross-checks

KiplePay’s solution then cross-checks the applicant against the insurer’s database of blacklisted customers. Once a  risk rating is established, the application will be approved or declined.

5. Digital Signing of Agreement
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If approved, an insurance agent will get in touch with Lily to determine her policy and she can digitally sign the agreement to complete the process with a two-factor authentication check via a one-time password (OTP), which is sent to her mobile phone.

The result: a verification process that is fast, easy, and convenient, allowing customers like Lily to go on with the rest of her day. Insurance agents such as Khairul also benefit from digitalisation as they don’t need to spend as much time on cases, allowing them to focus on signing up more customers across the country.

Faster, More Secure Financial Services with KiplePay’s e-KYC and Digital Signature

The days of meeting up with an insurance agent to provide dozens of documentation for verification and authentication is over, especially in an era where social distancing is now practiced. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for organisations and businesses to embrace digital transformation. A company that is too reliant on conventional operations and personal interactions will quickly lose out in cost efficiency and customer growth.

Digital solutions such as e-KYC have been proven to improve business operation efficiency by 30% - 65%, which is why insurance companies today have quickly adopted digital to complement and enhance their financial services. Consumer behaviour has greatly shifted over the past decade, especially during the new normal caused by the global pandemic. It is also in line with Bank Negara Malaysia’s push for greater adoption of digital financial services.

Moving to digital also allows businesses to connect with their customers and better understand their needs. With customers constantly wanting new and faster ways to interact with their financial service providers, KiplePay e-KYC offers the perfect solution for insurance companies eager to improve their workforce efficiency, services’ security, and productivity as well as relationship with their customers.