Digital sales as a growth driver
Mr. Hasselbächer, what does bancassurance mean for R+V Insurance?
The Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken, and other cooperative banks, offer their customers financial services through a 360-degree approach.
And what does that mean specifically?
It means that R+V Insurance is fully integrated into the customer advisory services of the cooperative banks with our products and consulting services. This involves customer access, personnel integration, process integration, and specific products that are well-suited for bank customers and bank advisory services.
If I, as a customer of a Volksbank or Raiffeisenbank, am interested in, for example, a life insurance policy: How does the contact and advisory process work?
We have opted for an omnichannel approach to customer and market engagement with the banks. The customer decides when and through which channel they want to contact us: via the bank's website, online banking, the customer center, or the bank advisor in person.
Where does most of your business come from?
Still primarily from personal consultations. In your case, the bank advisor will address topics related to retirement and insurance. For example, when purchasing real estate, we quickly get involved with homeowners' and construction insurance.
What about retirement planning?
Your bank advisor has your data and can identify any gaps in coverage and address them specifically.
So, retirement planning is usually handled through personal consultations?
Yes, 98% of the time. It involves securing retirement, protecting earning capacity (such as disability insurance), and health care.
Is there an increasing amount of sales through the internet or apps in this area?
Yes, supplementary health insurance is now up to 35% digital in terms of the number of contracts concluded.
What about other areas?
In property insurance, digital channels and direct consultations via phone have gained significant importance. For car insurance, up to 20% of contracts come through these channels, and for liability and household insurance, up to 5%. These percentages are growing rapidly.
How many customers use your online channels?
Around 11 million customers of the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken use the bank's own apps. The VR Banking App has about 5 million logins per day. But not all are R+V customers. About 22% of bank customers also have R+V contracts. Of those using the bank’s apps, around 40% engage with our R+V offerings. The use of online banking on PCs is declining. Our R+V customer portal, Meine R+V, is used by 25% of existing customers, but 74% of new customers.
How is the growth of digital channels at R+V?
Since 2019, digital channels have been growing by at least 25% annually. This year, growth is approaching 30%. 75% of digital customers are new customers, either bank customers or new customers who found us online. We then refer these customers to the cooperative banks.
Let's get back to personal consultations: Can any bank employee handle this?
Yes, if they are appropriately qualified. Otherwise, they refer to a qualified R+V insurance specialist.
What does the advisory process look like with bank advisors or R+V field staff?
The advisory process is fully digital. Almost our entire product range is available on the digital advisor workspace of the bank or our field staff.
Is there still paper involved in the advisory process?
Customers can receive a printed application form, but it is not required. Our goal – partly for sustainability reasons – is to avoid printing and send documents exclusively in digital form. This applies to all further documents and correspondence as well.
Do you also have online application processes?
We now have 13 self-service processes where customers can obtain information online and complete contracts entirely digitally, such as for rental deposit insurance or travel health insurance.
What about signatures?
Today, we can digitally sign about 85% of all business transactions. In the retail business, almost everything is signed digitally.
How is the signing done? On-screen?
No, we place a high value on data protection and legal compliance. The legislator distinguishes between three types of signatures: simple electronic, advanced, and qualified. For simplicity, we always use the qualified electronic signature, which provides the highest security standard.
Where can I view my contracts?
Our goal is for customers to see the contracts in their banking app. Alternatively, they can use our online portal, Meine R+V, where all documents can be found, and customers can use services such as changing payment methods, reporting claims, or submitting medical bills.
Are there other access options for customers?
Yes, a year ago we began storing information on individual contracts in the Apple and Google Wallets upon customer request. This now includes accident, car, and legal protection insurance.
Do you offer additional information via the Wallet?
We notify about weather events like heavy rain or hail in the vehicle’s registration area before they occur, so customers can secure their cars in time. This makes insurance more tangible without immediately selling something.
How many customers currently use the Wallet?
About 10% of our customers.
What are the future plans for the Wallet?
We aim to make our entire product range available through the Wallet.
When a bank customer concludes their insurance contract through a bank employee, how does the relationship between the bank and the insurance company work?
The bank acts as a traditional broker in this case. Data transfer is regulated contractually. When a customer signs an insurance contract, they specify which data we, as R+V, can transmit to the broker, here the bank. We enter this data into the bank’s CRM system. Thus, the bank receives the contract information.
What data is usually shared?
Personal data, type of insurance, insured vehicles, which family members are covered under accident insurance, and insurance sums.
What are R+V’s plans for consulting in the near future?
Customers still want personal consultations, but this will be modernly supported through digital offers and services as part of our omnichannel customer and market approach.
Why is that?
On one hand, people's coverage needs are very complex, due to legal frameworks for health insurance and retirement planning. On the other hand, insurance is not something people want to engage with proactively. They prefer to delegate this to a person acting in a concierge role to handle these aspects.
What conclusions do you draw from this analysis?
We will continue to seek qualified advisors on-site. In sales support, we will need fewer people and rely on digitalization, AI, and simpler processes.
What does this mean concretely for you?
We doubled the number of trainees last year and will hire over 300 new employees this year specifically for sales roles.
How do you plan to determine customer needs in the future?
We aim to use data and automation to identify each customer's informational and service needs. This is about prevention and health care rather than just advice and sales. For example: How can customers utilise digital information from the statutory pension insurance? Or: Our digital care advisor helps navigate through regulations. We want to create a living environment that goes beyond just insurance.
What role does artificial intelligence play for R+V?
AI helps us optimise our employees' work environment. Since July 1, we have made ChatGPT available to all employees, using our own cloud. Employees can use the chatbot to analyse information, write texts, analyses, and small programs.
Why is this important?
We need working conditions that prevent employee overload. I want to reduce administrative tasks and increase customer contact. AI helps with advisory preparation, documenting consultations, and handling claims.
Do these developments lead to changes in your sales structure?
The cooperative banks are our most important sales channel. We are also the most successful there and aim to gain market share. We continue to invest in our salespeople, direct consulting, and digital channels to support bank advisors and our field staff.
How do you see R+V in terms of technology and product offerings compared to the competition?
We have clear strategic advantages in bancassurance because we develop processes and integration into the banking system together with the banks' IT service provider, Atruvia. Up to 100 R+V colleagues work with Atruvia to develop insurance solutions.
A major issue in the industry is the outdated IT systems. How is R+V handling this?
We are investing in our old backend systems. Currently, product development takes about twelve months, which is slower than the market. We aim to develop new products in property insurance for private customers in less than three months starting in 2026. Product and price adjustments should be possible within a day. This applies to household, liability, homeowners, and legal protection insurance and will be expanded gradually.
And in life insurance?
In life insurance, we will launch a new occupational disability product on a new technological platform by mid-2025. From then on, we will be top-positioned in all segments.
How will you manage long-term life insurance contracts in the future?
If tariffs are no longer open for new business but only dynamic adjustments are made, they may remain on the old systems. All new business products will gradually move to the new technology – first new business and then the existing portfolio. The speed of this transition depends on available resources. The goal is to complete this for existing business within the next three to five years.
What about property insurance?
We need all old data for this as well. We will partially migrate these technically. But in property insurance, a sales migration is also useful. This means that the field staff will be tasked with converting older contracts to the current version and contacting customers to adjust their contracts to their current needs during advisory discussions.
