How Emma transforms AXA Mandiri's digital strategies

Emma is an all-in-one digital platform that meets the customers' needs, from purchasing an insurance policy to booking gym classes.

When branch offices are visited less and less, AXA Mandiri realised that the way consumers access their personal protection has evolved. Their behaviour is now affected by social distancing restrictions, the hesitancy of visiting doctors in person, and other health and financial concerns. But amongst these changes, AXA Mandiri also saw the increasing public awareness of the need for insurance protection. 

Citing a report by the Indonesian Life Insurance Association, AXA Mandiri said the life insurance industry managed to rebound during the pandemic by scoring a new business premium growth of 17.6% whilst advanced premiums grew 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2021. 

AXA Mandiri believed that these numbers were supported by the insurers’ innovation on their digital channels, ranging from services, websites, social media, to applications. This led the insurance firm to launch its all-in-one digital platform, called Emma.

“At the end of 2021, we launched Emma to make it easier for customers to transact online. Now, the customer can get the information about their insurance policy, total balance, claim submission status, investment performance, articles on health tips, and virtual sports classes that customers can attend from their homes," said President Director of AXA Mandiri, Handojo G. Kusuma in an interview with Insurance Asia. 

“We also position Emma as a 'Teman Sejati’ or ‘True Friend’ as seen in the slogan,” he added.

All-in-one digital access

Before the launch of Emma, AXA conducted multi-regional qualitative and quantitative research across five markets in Asia with over 4,000 customers to better understand what they wanted from an insurance company when it comes to their physical and mental health. AXA analysed the data collected and came up with Emma.

Emma is available across AXA’s network in Asia, including Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand. It can be accessed through various electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops. 

Handojo said customers only need to activate their Emma account through an activation link and user ID they will receive on their emails upon registration. When successfully logged in, the customer will be greeted by a female digital assistant wearing a casual blue blouse, clear and round glasses, and shoulder-length hair—also named Emma. 

The features available through Emma carry the theme “One Stop Protection and Health Partner.” It is where customers can get information related to their insurance policy ownership such as premium information, policy status, and personal data. Customers can also carry out financial and non-financial transactions, which include paying premiums, updating policy data, viewing the history of claim submissions, and contacting customer service via live chat.

There are also health services that help customers avail of teleconsultation services with trusted doctors. From the hospital directory to the list of VIP services, everything is available through Emma. To help in their well-being, customers can access health articles and virtual exercise classes in the comfort of their homes. There is even a point rewards feature that can be exchanged for prizes.

In an effort to involve its customers in the protection of the environment, for every AXA Mandiri customer who activated Emma from 1 April to 31 May 2022, AXA Mandiri planted a mangrove tree seedling in collaboration with LindungiHutan, a non-profit organisation for forest and environmental conservation. 

"Emma's presence is expected to make it easier for more than 1 million AXA entity customers in Indonesia. This encourages us to be more creative, both in designing protection solutions, as well as in offering products to prospective and existing customers according to their evolving needs," said Handojo.

Expansion to all Bank Mandiri segments

AXA Mandiri is a firm believer that digital transformations bring good results. AXA Mandiri recorded an increase in premium income, total assets, and company income in 2021. In the conventional life insurance financial statements of AXA Mandiri in the fourth quarter of 2021, they recorded a net premium income of $847.9m (IDR 12.7t)—an increase from 2020’s $734.4m (IDR 11t). The number of assets in the fourth quarter of 2021 also increased from $2.5b (IDR 37,56t) in 2020 to $2.7b (IDR 41.08t). Overall, the company recorded a revenue of $994.8m (IDR 14.9t) in the final quarter of 2021, from $810.5m (IDR 12.14t year-on-year).

Handojo said that solid performance in 2021 was largely due to digital transformation and continuous innovation during the pandemic. But digitalisation is not without challenges.

“In addition to the infrastructure that must be prepared, the skills of our employees in building and operating these digital services are an important point that must be considered and improved. Constraints that usually occur in digital technology must be swiftly handled so that services to customers continue to run well,” said Handojo.

The focus of AXA Mandiri's expansion, for now, is to optimise the potential of the domestic market, especially the ecosystem of their exclusive partner bank, Bank Mandiri. 

"AXA Mandiri will continue to build and strengthen existing infrastructure, offer new innovations, and provide added value services to increase penetration of all Bank Mandiri segments. These include its retail, affluent and high net worth, and micro to commercial and corporate segments," concluded Handojo.