Max Bupa inks alliance with GOQii and Swiss Re

Max Bupa inks alliance with GOQii and Swiss Re to create an integrated health and wellness ecosystem  

·      Industry first alliance between a health insurer and a wearable fitness brand to enhance consumer health and         wellness

·      Will co-create holistic healthcare offerings that go beyond hospitalization benefit

New Delhi/Mumbai, x November 2016 – In keeping with its commitment to be a healthcare partner to its customers, Max Bupa Health Insurance has announced an exclusive three way partnership with GOQii, a market leader in consumer wearable’s segment in India and Swiss Re, a leading global reinsurer, to provide unique and holistic wellness offerings. The alliance combines the strength of a specialist health insurer and a digital health and wellness expert to provide holistic health and wellness offerings to the digitally savvy customer.

Under the partnership which is subject to relevant regulatory approvals, Max Bupa and GOQii will introduce health insurance solutions that will enable customers to secure their health and encourage them to lead healthier lives. As part of the offering, Max Bupa consumers will get ready access to GOQii’s unique personalized wellness engine which is equipped with solutions like health coaching and management tools. Swiss Re will provide technical assistance to Max Bupa in creating relevant products and building expertise to create risk assessment models for future.

As a part of recent health insurance guidelines, the IRDA is laying a strong emphasis on driving the shift from ‘illness to wellness’ and encouraging health insurers to create offerings that cater to preventive healthcare needs of customers. With this alliance, Max Bupa has become the first health insurer in the country to partner with a consumer wearable brand to create digitally enabled, holistic wellness solutions, tailor made to meet the health needs of customers.

Commenting on the partnership, Ashish Mehrotra, MD & CEO, Max Bupa said, “Over the last few years, we have seen a significant increase in uptake of health insurance among customers under the age of 35 years. However, health insurance continues to be a discretionary purchase for the young population due to the low perceived value as they tend to undermine health risks and foresee limited need for hospitalization. These consumers are looking for immediate value in anything they buy, including health insurance. Hence, offering pre-emptive wellness solutions for maintaining their health is one effective way to engage with young customers and encourage them to buy health insurance. GOQii, with its rich expertise in the digital wellness space, provides an ideal platform that will help us penetrate deeper into this segment and serve the large uninsured population in the country.”

Talking about the partnership, Anika Agarwal, SVP & Head-Marketing, Digital and Direct Sales, Max Bupa said, “Of the overall health insurance purchase, currently 14% customers are digitally influenced. However, by 2020, the same is expected to be upwards of 50[AA1] %+. Hence, engaging with the digitally savvy customer becomes imperative. Our partnership with GOQii is of great strategic value as wearables with integrated apps will be the key driver in growth of health and wellness in coming years. We are sure our partnership with GOQii and Swiss Re will enable us contextualize conversations with our existing customers on the web and also decipher their lifestyle and health habits to further personalize our products and service offerings.”

Commenting on the alliance, Vishal Gondal, Founder & CEO, GOQii said, “At GOQii, we respond to consumer insights with the help of technology innovations to offer fitness products and services which blend seamlessly in a consumer’s lifestyle and add value. Going beyond the wearable fitness band, we have introduced tools and services which inculcate the intent of healthy living among consumers. To complement our offerings around pre-emptive healthcare and wellness, we have partnered with Max Bupa, which is a specialist health insurer, known for its differentiated and comprehensive health offerings. ”

Kalpana Sampat, Managing Director of Swiss Re Services India added, “We are delighted to partner with Max Bupa and GOQii. With more tech-savvy and health conscious consumers, insurers will have much to gain from working together with partners like GoQii. The overall health insurance programme connected with wearables or technology will help to reduce claims cost and allow insurers to better price their products for consumers. From Swiss Re, we will provide our technical support through our costing and risk management expertise. Our aim is to support insurers and tap into the opportunities that the digital healthcare ecosystem presents, and encourage consumers to adopt a preventive healthcare lifestyle.”

Max Bupa has a strong focus on utilizing the technology to deliver the best in class service experience to its customers. Over the years, the company has strengthened its position as a leader in the technology space, with a host of technological innovations across customer touch points including point of sale, claim and renewal. This initiative will enable Max Bupa to penetrate into newer customer segments and boost new business growth.

About Max Bupa Health Insurance

Max Bupa is a, 51:49, joint venture between Max India Limited, a multi-business corporate with expertise in life insurance and health care and Bupa, a leading global health and care company with 65 years of healthcare knowledge. Max Bupa brings together a combination of Bupa’s health insurance and customer service expertise with Max India’s understanding and experience of the Indian health and insurance sectors. Max Bupa offers quality health insurance services through a dedicated team of over 1400 people and its network of 26 offices across 16 cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Kolkata, Patna, Goa and Jodhpur. Max Bupa offers individual and family oriented health insurance policies for Indians across all age groups. Max Bupa has a direct working relationship with a network of over 3600 top quality hospitals and healthcare

Boiler plate of GOQii

About Swiss Re

The Swiss Re Group is a leading wholesale provider of reinsurance, insurance and other insurance-based forms of risk transfer. Dealing direct and working through brokers, its global client base consists of insurance companies, mid-to-large-sized corporations and public sector clients. From standard products to tailor-made coverage across all lines of business, Swiss Re deploys its capital strength, expertise and innovation power to enable the risk-taking upon which enterprise and progress in society depend. Founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1863, Swiss Re serves clients through a network of around 70 offices globally and is rated "AA-" by Standard & Poor's, "Aa3" by Moody's and "A+" by A.M. Best. Registered shares in the Swiss Re Group holding company, Swiss Re Ltd, are listed in accordance with the International Reporting Standard on the SIX Swiss Exchange and trade under the symbol SREN. For more information about Swiss Re Group, please visit: www.swissre.com or follow us on Twitter @SwissRe.

Swiss Re has been associated with Asia since 1913 and has over 1,500 employees in Asia Pacific.  The company's Asian headquarters is in Hong Kong, and has offices in Sydney, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Bangalore, where it operates a global business processing office.