ACA favours slower in-house AI to keep customer data private

Customers under 45 are more likely to track insurance claims themselves.

PT Asuransi Central Asia (ACA) is leaning towards building artificial intelligence (AI) on its own data to keep customer information private, even though training such systems takes longer than using externally hosted tools.

“If we go with internal, our data doesn't go anywhere—but educating this AI takes much longer than if it were open,” Indrawati Darmawan, chief financial officer at ACA, told Insurance Asia via Zoom.

She said ACA has yet to decide how much outside market data it will use, but her preliminary preference is to keep customer information in-house whilst finding ways to use external data without exposing it.

ACA also uses private rather than public cloud services to retain greater control over its data, Darmawan said.

“AI is a double-edged sword,” she said, citing both its potential benefits and risks as regulators scrutinise digital financial services.

ACA has digital systems for policy purchases and claims, although customers use them differently depending on age.
Customers above 45 generally prefer working with an agent, whilst younger customers are more likely to track claims themselves, including the progress of vehicle repairs or surveys for fire claims, Darmawan said.

Both types of claims use the same digital system. Complex commercial claims, such as factory losses, still require an on-site inspection and assessment before entering the system.

ACA has also simplified health insurance claims. Some customers with medical claims below $280 (IDR5m) can upload documents online without submitting the original paperwork, although the limit depends on their policy.

Darmawan said providing an online claim system alone does not guarantee better service because customers also care about how quickly insurers pay.

“Platform is one thing,” she said. “How we do the service is another thing.”

ACA is separately considering a service that would let customers compare its insurance products. The insurer is deciding whether to build the service itself or work with an outside company to make comparisons appear more independent.

The service will target emerging affluent customers who are accumulating wealth through property, equities, and digital assets.

Darmawan said these customers use technology mainly to research and compare products rather than to avoid insurance agents.

ACA expects many of them eventually to inherit family business wealth. Darmawan estimated it could take nine to 15 years before the group accounts for the biggest share of ACA's customers.

The shift will require ACA to prepare employees to serve customers who research products independently and make financial decisions differently from their parents, she said.

“Human resources have to be prepared for that,” Darmawan said.