UAE insurers start a digital journey

In an exclusive interaction Neeraj Gupta, CEO of PolicyBazaar UAE shares the insurance industry scenario in UAE, digital transformation trends & top insurance products:

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Ravi Lalwani: When did PolicyBazaar enter the UAE market? What features made it an attractive market? What are the main differences between UAE and Indian markets?

Neeraj Gupta: PolicyBazaar entered in the UAE market in 2018. We were exploring our expansion in the international markets, and we chose UAE for the expansion, because UAE has a good Indian population and secondly there is a brand awareness about us among the customers, as a lot of these customers have used our services in India.

What are the main differences between UAE and Indian markets? Is your tech platform the same as in India, or are there some differences? Please highlight the differences.

In India, there is good knowledge and education among the customers about buying insurance products digitally. While in UAE the insurance penetration is very low, as people in the UAE are less aware about importance of ‘protection’ in their lives.

Most of the people in India don’t have plans to leave the country, but in UAE 90% of the population is expat - they are always thinking of leaving UAE after 5-10 years to their own country. So, there is confusion regarding the continuance of insurance policies after leaving the UAE. India and UAE have different tech platforms, India is ahead of UAE in terms of the digital adoption of financial products. In India, you can buy digital insurance products instantly, while in UAE there are limited insurance companies that provides an instant insurance policy.