According to a global insurance survey published in an EY study, 73% of respondents said they were concerned about their financial health. The concept of financial health, which consists of "the proper management of the domestic economy so that expenses never exceed income with a vision beyond the short term", must also be able to allow people to "maximize their resources" to "enjoy of experiences”, EY Financial Services partner Leandro Mazón highlighted in his welcoming remarks during the Dialogues session in La Vanguardia.
Leandro Mazón commented that "the banking and insurance sectors are facilitators of financial health management and protection against possible risks, both through technological tools and advice through specialists."
EY insurance sector partner, Ana Baranda, co-host of this event that brought together experts from the banking, insurance and technology sectors, recalled that "in life we face random events that have an impact on people, such as robberies, fraud, fires, deaths, unemployment or cyberattacks, among others. Protection is both an operational and a financial solution that implies peace of mind.” However, she regretted, there is a protection "gap", as stated in EY's Global Insurance Outlook 2023. Specifically, this global gap was 1.4 trillion dollars and has doubled since the year 2000.
The meeting, held last week at the EY offices in Barcelona, was attended by the deputy general manager and director of Private Insurance and Investment Savings at Banc Sabadell, David Insalaco; the director of Traditional Business Life of Grupo Catalana Occidente, Raúl Lucena; the deputy director general, Life, Health
Financial entities, in the opinion of David Insalaco, play a "key and strategic" role, both as "service providers" and as "financial health educators" through an "integral relationship with the client" that is increasingly "hybrid" between digital and face-to-face. Its objective, underlined the deputy general manager and director of Private Insurance and Investment Savings at Banc Sabadell, is "to help people plan their finances and protect themselves", in collaboration with insurance companies.
To do this, they have a network of specialists in managing the savings, investment, protection and financing needs of their individual clients.
The capillarity of the banking sector is essential, according to the director of Retail at CaixaBank, Ramon Faura, since "98% of the adult population has a bank account". Analysis of your financial health, he adds, is done in the form of a "sort of Maslow's pyramid." At its base is the "day to day", which consists of the "management of income and control of expenses" ", for which you can resort to "monitoring technological tools" such as those offered by some financial entities to Your clients. Technology, after all, is an auxiliary tool. But it is not necessary: there are those who manage their day to day with pencil and paper. In reality, banks provide tools that allow better control of the family economy with less investment of time, he insisted.
On the second level of this pyramid of financial health, continues the director of Retail at CaixaBank, are "savings" and "protection against unforeseen events". "If you have the capacity to save, you can opt for balanced and sustainable financing," he clarifies. The pinnacle of good financial health is “planning ahead to meet goals and be prepared for what's to come. We all need to sleep peacefully,” he explained.
The insurance sector is undergoing a transformation, both technological and services, to offer the most appropriate solutions to protect people and the economy against eventual risks. The director of Traditional Business Life of Grupo Catalana Occidente, Raúl Lucena, agreed that “financial protection and health must go hand in hand. Likewise, it is essential that people are aware of their current financial situation as well as in the medium and long term”. From the insurer, Lucena highlighted, they offer "a wide range of services and coverage, through an extensive, trained and very professional network of mediators" that gives them the peace of mind and security of feeling well advised and protected. Among the main trends, the deputy director general, Life, Health
“The world changes faster and faster. You have to be prepared”, warned Susana Mendia, giving the “cybersecurity protection” as an example. “The question is not if I'm going to have a cyberattack, but when,” she recalled. From the insurance world, there is also a commitment to "omnichannel" to serve the client in the way and at the time they choose, either digitally or in person. In the case of Allianz, Mendia revealed that, for this, they carry out a study of the "prototype client" to analyze what advice is required in each segment.
The technology sector focuses on "personalization and pay per use" when proposing protection and financial health solutions, with the desire to work together in the form of an ecosystem with sectors such as banking and insurance, he commented in his speech. the CEO of Tech Barcelona. According to a McKinsey study, seven years from now, "25% of the world economy will revolve around ecosystems made up of technology companies, banks and insurers," predicted Ana Baranda.
Miquel Martí considers that this "collaboration between expert entities is key" so that each one "contributes to the value chain", giving as an example the data analysis capacity of artificial intelligence and the application of technologies such as sensors or blockchain which, in his opinion, are increasingly useful to provide solutions to new social trends in terms of financial security and health.
This accelerated digitalization from the pandemic also implies facing new challenges such as "the transparency of the algorithms", added the partner of the Insurance sector at EY, Ana Baranda. "There is no trust if the environment is not regulated," replied Miquel Martí. Paradoxically, "regulation can have the effect of distancing us from consumers", reflected Ramon Faura with the example of the amount of "fine print" that must be included in insurance and financial services, for which reason the role of banking to explain well any service or product. However, he clarified that "without being in any way against the regulation, one of its impacts is the exhaustiveness and the increase in complexity in financial services contracts, which make it difficult for the average consumer to understand."
"We must continue to mature the information and data to offer the best service and experience, putting the customer at the center, for this, entities must continue working on their ecosystems to offer complete experiences", recommended the Financial Services Partner at EY, Leandro Mazon. “Financial entities are drivers of change due to your ability to promote the transformation of society; digitization and sustainability are currently clear examples of this ”, he concluded.
