The inaugural Global Insurance Innovation Awards, held at a gala ceremony in Singapore today, recognised Discovery Insure as a global leader in insurance innovation, thanks to its world-class and future-ready product offering.

Discovery Insure walked away with Best Automobile Insurance 2024 in the product innovation category for its Vitality Drive 3.0 programme. This category recognises the most cutting-edge insurance products created by insurers who are pushing boundaries and transforming the industry worldwide.

The Global Insurance Awards were launched this year by The Global Insurer, which is part of The Digital Banker, a news, business intelligence, and research partner to the global financial services sector. The awards celebrate insurers who are leveraging technology and innovation to enhance their products and services in a fast-changing risk environment.

“We’re incredibly honoured to be recognised for our innovation, something that is embedded in Discovery Insure’s DNA,” says Robert Attwell, Discovery Insure CEO. “These awards celebrate insurers who are being proactive in creating superior client experiences and enhanced protection through technology – and Vitality Drive 3.0 does just that.”

The next evolution of Vitality Drive

Discovery Insure’s Vitality Drive is a unique driver behaviour programme that uses state-of-the art telematics technology to measure how clients drive and reward them for driving well.

Rewards include cash back on fuel spend and discounts on tyres, maintenance costs, and e-hailing services. Clients can also double their fuel cash back by having it paid into the Insure Funder Account. This fund can be used to fund an excess in the event of an accident or to fully fund new tyres and car servicing.

Vitality Drive’s telematics also provide advanced safety features, like Impact Alert, which immediately detects if a driver has been in an accident, real-time stolen vehicle tracking and recovery, a smartphone-enabled vehicle panic button, and weather warnings.

To counter external economic pressures like inflation, fuel price increases, and affordability challenges for price-sensitive clients, in 2023 Discovery Insure further enhanced Vitality Drive to its latest iteration: Vitality 3.0.

The Vitality 3.0 and product evolution includes:

• Increasing the maximum fuel cash back from R800 to R1500.
  
• Allowing fuel cash back to be paid in Discovery Miles. This is the insurer’s rewards currency that is more valuable than cash, as Discovery Miles can be spent at partner stores with a discount.
  
• Introduced the Vitality Car Rating, a market-first, data-driven breakthrough in vehicle valuation. Augmenting cross-sectional data from dealerships with advanced actuarial techniques and over 20 billion kms of longitudinal data on driving behaviour, we're able to quantify a vehicles health and offer Discovery Insure clients a boost of up to 15% on the vehicle resale value.
  

“Our unique Shared-value business model is underpinned by Vitality,” says Attwell. “This market-leading and innovative behaviour change programme is based on the idea that better drivers are lower risk, and a client’s risk determines their rewards, like cash back. Crucially, better drivers mean safer roads – which is ultimately Discovery Insure’s core purpose.”

Vitality Drive International expands global footprint to Bahrain

In line with Discovery Insure’s vision of safer roads, the insurer continues to expand its core purpose globally. Solidarity Bahrain, one of the largest insurance companies in the kingdom and a subsidiary of Solidarity Group Holding, is the latest to join a strategic partnership with Vitality Drive International. The initiative is set to launch in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Francois Theron, deputy chief executive of Discovery Insure and Vitality Drive International, says, “Vitality has been scaled to over 40 markets, impacting the lives of more than 40 million members. Its data-driven technology has been adopted by leading insurers around the world, the latest being Solidarity Bahrain. We’re excited to announce this partnership, as it’s set to revolutionise road safety in Bahrain, as it has in many other countries thus far, including South Africa.”

Discovery Insure was the first South African insurer to introduce rewards for driving well using advanced telematics. Last year alone, the insurer has collected over 19 billion kilometres of driving data to enhance the understanding of risk and the rewards that clients get for driving well. This resulted in over R1.8 billion paid to Discovery Insure clients in fuel cash back and over R202 million held in the Insure Funder Account (IFA).

“There is nothing like Vitality Drive in South Africa and Discovery Insure continues to expand this game-changing programme internationally. I’m excited that we’ve been recognised for our work through the Global Insurance Innovation Award, and I look forward to even more innovation. Through this, we can give clients the protection and peace of mind they need in a constantly evolving risk landscape,” concludes Attwell.