WEBINAR: Opportunities from the emerging Consumer Data Right (CDR) ecosystem

CDR Month was instigated by the combined efforts of FDATA, FinTech Australia and the Australian Information Industry Association. 

This webinar on Consumer Data Rights (CDR) and Open Insurance, hosted by Insurtech Australia and held as a CDR Month satellite event, discussed key features of CDR and Open Insurance from an insurtech and insurance industry perspective.  

We thank the panel for their generous and insightful contribution: 

  • Mathew Mytka – Moderator (Regional Director, Australia and New Zealand Financial Data and Technology Association) 
  • Anthony Justice (Executive Partner, 11eight) 
  • Fabrizia Roberto (Co-Founder & CEO, Koverd) 
  • Jason Wilby (Co-Founder, Open) 
  • Nick Fernando (EGM Everyday Banking, Suncorp) 

Follow this link to access the webinar recording.

Discussion takeaways: 

The Open data sharing facilitated by the CDR can bring customer benefits through supporting the opportunity for increased competition, with customers having the ability to understand their risks and determine products better suits to their needs.  There is potential for customers to engage with insurance purchases linked to life decisions in a similar way they have in other sectors such as mortgage switching. The current process of obtaining insurance quotes from different providers is complicated and lengthy, leading to an inertia to the status quo and incumbent insurers.   

CDR and open data would allow insurers to employ more innovative methods to capture and price insurance risks. There are already some insurtechs using external data to simplify the underwriting process. 

It is important for customers to understand the benefits of accessing and sharing their data, and to understand the security framework within the CDR. Experience is that once customers understand the benefits, they are comfortable with sharing their data.  There are also existing data sets such as Drivers Licence records which, if linked to insurance processes, would have significant benefits in reducing the risk of customers not accurately or correctly disclosing their driving history.  Claims and fraud databases currently exist, but they have many shortcomings in terms of accuracy and how they are accessed (with customers usually having to pay a fee).   

Overseas experience has shown that there can be little incentive for incumbent (usually larger) insurers to make switching easier and to facilitate data sharing, given the many proprietary uses of insurance data.  Structural and regulatory change is therefore needed and insurtechs have a significant role to play to develop user cases that demonstrate the benefits for customers. 

Call to action: 

There is an opportunity for us to work together to identify which data sets would provide the most benefit to customers, and to identify use cases that demonstrate customer benefits.  This would enable us to make a proactive approach to government rather than waiting for insurance sector designation.