The insurance industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by digitalization, personalization, and growing importance of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things, and cybersecurity in insurance documentation and data analytics, predictive risk assessment, fraud detection, and smart policy management. In the last three years alone, there have been over 17,000 patents filed and granted in the insurance industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial intelligence in insurance: automated premium discounting. Buy the report here.
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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilizing and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
20+ innovations will shape the insurance industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the insurance industry using innovation intensity models built on over 70,000 patents, there are 20+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, underwriting AI, predictive risk analysis, and insurance documentation AI are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Insurance fraud detection AI, smart policy management, and smart vehicle damage assessment are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas is automated weather forecasting, which is now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for artificial intelligence in the insurance industry
Automated premium discounting is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence
Automated premium discounting refers to the use of digital platforms and artificial intelligence to analyze products and identify potential protection mechanisms associated with them. It involves generating protection capsules accessible through digital wallets that can be used for payment card management, financial account management, and protection mechanism management. Additionally, it includes electronic user message protocol extension, optimized prescription fill requests, and predicting customer needs using artificial intelligence models. Automated premium discounting can help insurance companies with significant administrative time and cost savings while making the policies more attractive for customers.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 630+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established insurance companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of automated premium discounting.
Key players in automated premium discounting – a disruptive innovation in the insurance industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to automated premium discounting
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance is one of the leading patent filers in automated premium discounting. The company’s Drive Safe and Save program, for example, is a usage-based insurance (UBI) program designed to reward safe drivers with discounts of up to 30% on their car insurance. It utilizes telematics technology to monitor and score the driving behavior of the participating customers and automatically lowers insurance premiums based on how safe their driving habit is.
Ping An Insurance (Group), Allstate, and Alibaba Group are some of the other key patent filers in this space.
In terms of application diversity, INRIX held the top position, while Alphabet and Cox Enterprises stood in second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Memjet Technology leads the pack, followed by Tractable and INRIX.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the insurance industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Insurance.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
