AIA Launches First Insurance Chatbot in Malaysia
7 mins read
- “Ask Sara”, an artificial intelligence powered enquiry channel, is the insurer’s latest innovative solution aimed at enhancing its support to its Life Planners.
- Sara will provide instant, real time answers to agents’ general enquiries anytime, anywhere, via Facebook Messenger.
Kuala Lumpur, 2 November 2017 – AIA Bhd. (AIA), the country’s leading life insurer, is once again breaking new grounds with the launch of Malaysia’s first insurance chatbot, “Ask Sara”.
The new artificial intelligence powered enquiry channel is currently available to AIA’s 14,000-strong agency force, also known as Life Planners, as part of the insurer’s continued efforts to enable its distributors to be more effective in their day-to-day business, particularly when it comes to servicing of customers.
In announcing the arrival of “Ask Sara” last Friday (27 October), AIA’s Chief Executive Officer Anusha Thavarajah said, “AIA has a strong legacy of innovation, where we have made significant investments in bringing the best of technology to the way we equip and enable our agency force.
“From providing them with iPoS, a multi award-winning iPad-based sales tools that comes with straight-through processing capabilities, to the iServe app that is available within iPoS so that they are able to make simple service change requests for their customers swiftly, we have always been at the forefront of the industry.
“Today with “Ask Sara”, we have achieved another significant milestone in our journey of innovation, as well as in our efforts to provide a differentiated and seamless experience for our sales force and customers in their interactions with AIA. Thanks to the hard work of our very own Innovation Delivery team who have been building the platform since early this year, Sara will now present our Life Planners with an alternative channel to find instant, quick answers to common questions and in doing so, help them serve or advise their customers even more efficiently,” she added.
Built with a knowledge bank of 700 commonly asked questions, 140 attachments and a listing of 800 panel clinic and examiners, Sara responds to agents’ enquiries as quickly as within 3 seconds - all done through Facebook Messenger.
Currently, Sara is able to provide answers to a number of topics such as those relating to customer on-boarding and the insurer’s AIA Vitality programme. Agents can also request Sara to send them relevant application forms, or help them locate the nearest AIA branch or panel clinic.
“Sara as a platform will continue to learn as she goes. With a dedicated team that will monitor her performance closely, we will make sure that we expand Sara’s library of data and accelerate her learning in rapid timeframes so that she will continue to provide valuable support to our Life Planners. This is only the beginning for us, as we have plans to introduce Sara to our customers in the near future,” Anusha added.
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About AIA Bhd.
AIA Bhd. is a leading insurer in Malaysia, where we have been privileged to do business since 1948. We offer a suite of financial solutions including Protection, Health, Personal Accident, Employee Benefits, General Insurance, Mortgage, Retirement and Family Takaful products to meet our customers’ protection and financial security needs at every life stage. Through our wide and diverse distribution footprint which comprises a 14,000-strong Life Planner force, our exclusive bank partner’s branches nationwide as well as corporate sales teams and brokers, we give our customers the choice of deciding how, when and where they connect with us.
Part of the AIA Group, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group, AIA Bhd. has the financial strength, experience, service centre network and a well-trained team of more than 2,000 staff to serve our 3 million customers nationwide. As at 30 November 2015, AIA Bhd.’s total asset worth was RM47 billion, with a paid-up capital of RM767 million.
About AIA
AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, Cambodia, a 97 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49 per cent joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.
The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai almost a century ago. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$200 billion as of 31 May 2017.
AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of more than 30 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.
AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”).
