Insuring on Simplicity- The ING Life Way : Kshitij Jain

Interview Questions

Full Interview with Kshitij Jain

Kshitij Jain:

You're right, with such a multitude of services available, it becomes very difficult even for the educated to figure out which products are right for them. We need to advise them depending on which stage of life they are in. The key is communication. It could be technological communication or personal communication. As is evident from our website, I think we've been able to communicate in a very simple manner; whether we're talking about life products or about a specific 'life stage'.

Our attempt to communicate transparently is now internal to the organization. We are also automating and simplifying our internal business processes with the help of IT. In our business, constant product innovation is important. IT has made a great difference in that: it has reduced the product-design to market-launch time to 90 days.

Kshitij Jain:

IT must design systems that provide operational flexibility. Only then can innovative ideas translate quickly to changes in products and services for customers. At ING Vysya Life, we are able to launch a new product within two to three months from the day we finalize a product's specifications. Our existing IT system has been customized to automate the underwriting process so that over 60 percent of proposals are issued without the need for manual underwriting. Such success gives us the confidence to venture into other cutting-edge technologies to improve overall flexibility and the efficiency of our operations.
We are also constantly looking to leverage ING's worldwide expertise to acquire new technologies and improve our systems.

Kshitij Jain:

One of the greatest contributions that ING made for us was to set up our mother system at the start. We work on a system called Life Asia, which ING has been using for over 15 years. It's a proven system and two of its biggest advantages are reliability and stability. From day one, we've had complete stability as far as our main operating systems are concerned. In IT - as in our implementations - all our applications in India are benchmarked against other global units. There is a lot of networking between the IT teams of different countries. And this experience helps us prepare for every successive stage.

Kshitij Jain:

Technology may not play a leading role in differentiating us. But, it can facilitate implementing our overall market approach. Globally, ING has decided that its positioning will be centered around the concept of 'easier'. IT can ensure that at any customer touch point, we shall be a company that is easier to deal with.

Right now, we are more reliant on customer acquisition. But, in the future, we are going to be in a business where profitability will be found in managing a very large group of customers, where the critical differentiator will be the ease with which a customer can interact with the organization.

Kshitij Jain:

I don't think it is fair to say that CIOs aren't business leaders already. Our head of technology is very much a part of our decision-making team. We have a COO who heads both our operations and IT. We also have a head of IT.

We are perhaps the first company that has implemented straight proof-processing. Today, if a customer buys a policy in New Delhi, it can be issued to him or her on the same day in Bangalore - even if it is being issued from a centralized office. This is possible because we have implemented a straight through processing (STP) and a workflow solution, which has completely changed the way we do business. I think IT - and the CIO - can make a huge difference. In our company, CIOs are business people, not IT people.

About being bold, I think in an industry of this nature, we need more the mark of being reliable, than being bold. Our industry is different from others because we are talking about a business relationship that lasts 15 to 20 years.

Kshitij Jain:

I view technology as an enabler. It facilitates rapid growth while enhancing the service experience to our customers. I expect IT to deliver on all the project initiatives that help meet this objective in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Kshitij Jain:

We have a strong governance structure in the form of an IT steering committee, which I chair. This committee decides on all major investments that we need to make in upgrading or adopting new technologies and systems

Kshitij Jain:

In the first few years, we invested significant resources in building a solid transaction-processing platform. These systems are capable of handling significant increases in volumes and are flexible enough to allow a reasonably quick launch of new products. About three years ago, we made another major investment in a world-class business process management system. This has improved efficiency.

We are going to implement an operational data store to provide the entire organization with a single view of our customers.

At ING, we have a customer initiative that we call Click-Call Face. A customer can contact us via the Net, call us on our toll free number - where they can talk to us in eight major languages. Customers can meet our representatives face to face.

But, I've noticed that customers are increasingly comfortable with the Net and phone options. Though, in towns with populations below five lakh, people are still more comfortable with the face-to-face option. I think most people are better with click and call. The advantage in our business is that while Internet penetration is an issue, it is not a burning one.

Kshitij Jain:

In fact, for both insurance and banking, ING is world leader. ING Direct is the world's largest Internet bank; it is the growth engine of the ING business worldwide. Using e-commerce and the Internet as the only distribution channel is something that our group understands well. Having said that, e-commerce is restricted in India; we are in a tightly regulated industry. There are limitations on how much you can do over the Net; pen and ink still need to be used before we can issue a policy.
Going forward, I do think that e-commerce is not only going to be a viable plan, but also a very important plan for distribution. Given that regulation keeps pace with the market.