King Price Insurance refines operations using Alula Technologies’ Life Policy Administration System powered by Microsoft Azure

In less than a decade, King Price Insurance has disrupted the South African short-term insurance landscape by offering decreasing premiums and is looking to do the same in the life insurance space. Committed to meeting customers’ expectations, it wanted to further enhance efficiency and customer experience. It recently acquired Stangen, a life insurance provider and long-term user of Alula Technologies’ Life Policy Administration System (Exergy). Realizing the benefits of cloud, King Price Insurance chose to continue the partnership with Alula Technologies and use the Alula Life Policy Administration System built on Microsoft Azure, to modernise policy administration, claims, billing, underwriting, and more. The results are a set of digital portals that let staff and customers handle transactions efficiently and securely, while enabling continuous opportunities for the insurer through digital solutions.

South African company King Price Insurance launched in 2012 with a distinctive offering of decreasing insurance premiums. Initially focused on delivering accessible car insurance, it grew its body of services to better cater to the needs of South Africans, covering bicycles, motorcycles, and agriculture-related vehicles, possessions, and businesses. 

In 2020, the firm expanded its horizon, acquiring Stangen and venturing into life insurance services under the King Price Insurance banner. But the drive to innovate didn't stop there. “To continue disrupting the insurance space, we constantly look for ways to be more efficient. We decided to modernise our operations, and regulatory processes,” says Charl Naude, Chief Technology Officer at King Price Life Insurance. This led the company to collaborate with SilverBridge, which is now part of Alula Technologies, a global software provider with close to three decades of experience in financial services, including insurance, health, and pensions. 

Digitising insurance services

King Price Insurance adopted Alula Technologies’ Life Policy Administration System (Exergy) suite to modernise its policy administration insurance processes. “Exergy was designed for digital-oriented businesses. The latest version of the software has been re-architected to run on Microsoft Azure, offering a cloud-native platform that automates processes like customer onboarding, distribution, operations, and regulatory compliance. It can also adapt to market changes with no impact on existing business processes,” explains Ben Burger, Commercial and New Business Executive at Alula Technologies. 

With Exergy, King Price Insurance has set up various service portals to maximise efficiency. A digital customer fulfilment and onboarding portal enables brokers and agents to digitally onboard customers, resulting in increased sales. A customer self-service portal has further improved customer experience by empowering the users. “Our customers can make changes to their accounts or policy details and initiate transactions through the web or the mobile application,” explains Naude. The policy administration portal empowers businesses to manage group policies for their employees, and the distribution management portal supports brokers and agents in handling outstanding customer requirements and viewing commission information. 
“Previously, we used a hybrid solution, which was managed at an excessive cost,” shares Naude. “With the Exergy suite, we already realised significant savings, but more importantly, opened up multiple new opportunities within the digital world for the future.”

Modernising the workplace

Following initial digitisation efforts, King Price Life Insurance has also achieved higher accuracy in regulatory compliance and risk management. It now automates reports for regulatory bodies, and its employees make data-driven risk assessments with minimal manual interventions through Power BI dashboards.

All these have encouraged the insurance firm to keep modernising. “Microsoft Azure unlocked a range of solutions and functions, making us realise that further integration and adoption of Microsoft solutions will be highly beneficial. We already use Microsoft 365 and are exploring Azure Form Recogniser and Dynamics 365” states Naude.  

Future-proofing the business

King Price Insurance secures its future by promoting efficiency wherever possible. “The intuitive portals and platforms we use have reduced system training requirements. This means present and future agents and brokers can self-train and benefit without undue delays,” notes Naude. Reflecting on the journey, Naude shares, “For those embarking on their cloud journey, my advice is simple: collaborate with experienced technology partners. For us, working with Alula Technologies and Microsoft proved invaluable. And remember, it’s also an opportunity to refresh and refine your processes.”