AIICO Insurance is seeking to have better rapport with its customers through a dedicated channel on WhatsApp instant messaging service called Ella, which it has launched in recognition of the role technology and instant messages play in meeting consumer demand.
Babatunde Fajemirokun, AIICO’s chief executive officer, said with over two billion WhatsApp users globally and its increasing viral adoption locally, the underwriter deemed it appropriate to launch the platform channel by which it can bring service closer to its customers.
He said, “We understand how technology is transforming the world today and its impact on the lifestyle of our customers. Therefore, we will continue to invest in the best technology solution to provide our customers with a great experience.”
Pointing out that the advent of technology solutions aids corporate organisations’ efforts to offer their customers great experiences, he noted that in the heat of the 2020 pandemic and global lockdown, the company mitigated the impact by deploying technology-enabled solutions for business continuity. Hence, the reinforcement on the decision to be laser-focused on quality service delivery irrespective of daunting challenges based on the great feedback from customers and the marketplace.
He added, “ELLA is a dedicated instant messaging service with built-in features that help customers make instant purchase or renewal of policies, claims reporting, product and service enquiries and lots more via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram. AIICO is the first insurance company in Nigeria to deploy an AI-powered service via the WhatsApp platform.”
He explained that Ella is available 24/7, adding that the interactive chatbot enhances user experience as it takes on the personality of a young, intelligent, and efficient customer experience manager helping to reduce the time required for customers to purchase or access customer support service to a maximum of five minutes.
“Furthermore, it empowers both existing and prospective customers to chat with AIICO for instant responses any time of the day. Even more impressive, the service offers simple, secure, and reliable messaging at zero cost,” he added.
The development represents part of AIICOs effort to improve insurance in Nigeria. The insurer during the first half of the year reported an uptick in the gross premium written and gross premium income printed at N37 billion and N34 billion and trickles down to the profit for the year at N3.25 billion in spite of huge claim expenses at N20 billion.
