Insurance products – a cornerstone of Northmill’s growth journey
Northmill has since its birth in 2006 successfully challenged the financial industry with new technology, with the mission to simplify everyone’s financial life. Recently the company launched the game-changing products Rebilla Reduce and Rebilla Reward, which will help everyone lower the interest rate on existing credits. But as always, many great things happen at once at Northmill.
As part of Northmill’s long-term strategy, the company launched its first insurance product already in 2017, which was followed by the launch of other insurance products short thereafter. All have seen substantial growth and have contributed to Northmill's overall growth journey, which has been over 85 percent over the past three years. The insurance products have created stability and security for the customers and Simon Nilsson, Chief Customer Officer and product owner of Northmill’s insurance products, now has his eyes set on insurtech and pay-per-day products.
Simon Nilsson has vast experience from the finance sector and prior to Northmill, he worked as Head of Sales for a major insurance broker. In September 2017, he began his journey at Northmill and took on a new role as Chief Customer Officer. Today, he is one of three product owners with responsibility for the development of insurance products. He also has strategic responsibility for the sales department and the company's customer center, supporting Nortmill's over 200,000 customers.
“Northmill is currently in a strong expansion and scale-up phase, and I feel very confident in the team who drive the company forward with commitment and high targets. I enjoy the innovative environment here and that I have the opportunity to be part of taking our business to the next level,” said Simon Nilsson.
The first insurance product that Northmill launched in 2017 protects the borrower in case of unpredictable events such as unemployment or sick leave. When the insurance is in effect, it covers the customer's monthly loan instalment during the damage period up to 12 months.
“We can all suffer from various crises and setbacks in life and to get insurance if something were to happen is a way to get extra security in life,” said Simon.
Another insurance product, launched in 2018, is an expenditure protection covering the customer's expenses in the event of loss of income. When the insurance is in effect, the compensation is paid out directly to the customer's account, and it is then up to the customer to decide how it will be managed. The insurance coverage comes at a fixed monthly premium and it is the same amount that will be paid out monthly when the insurance is in effect.
“When you suffer from loss of income, a majority of your expenses still remain. With this insurance you can feel secure in being able to maintain a similar standard of living even when life circumstances change,” said Simon Nilsson.
In the near future, a new insurance product will likely be launched and offered to Rebilla users as well.
“Our insurances are highly appreciated by our customers and for that reason, we want to offer the possibility for Rebilla customers to get insurance coverage,” said Simon Nilsson.
According to Simon, the development of the insurance industry has been slow and many companies have been lagging in innovation and digital product development.
“The development of the insurance industry has so far been slow, even compared with the finance sector. At Northmill we are at the forefront of offering innovative solutions that help people save both time and money with products such as Rebilla Reduce and Rebilla Reward, and we intend to improve the insurance area in the future in the same way, with the help of our in-house developed technical platform, data-driven approach and key competence in data and analytics,” says Simon Nilsson.
Insurtech is the umbrella term for new technological innovation within the insurance area. An example of a smart technical solution is travel insurance with geolocation where the service knows where the customer is and activates the insurance when the customer is abroad, and automatically deactivates it when the customer comes home. The customer then only pays the insurance premium for the travel period instead of a full year’s premium.
“Few companies currently offer this type of technology in Sweden, but it exists and Northmill wants to lead the development. We see great opportunities in the application of this type of technology to our insurance products in the future,” said Simon.
Simon is feeling positive about the development and about how insurtech could, among other things, simplify the ways in which insurance is distributed and how claims reports are handled.
“We live in a behaviour, customer-driven economy, and I am confident we will see more innovative solutions in the insurance industry in the near future. We are already seeing quick progress toward simplifying the customer's user experience and toward digitising a variety of processes. That is why flexible insurances, tailored to individual needs is something I foresee in the future,” Simon finishes.
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